


Sempre Piu (Always More)

by lumenera



Category: Haikyuu!!, 四月は君の嘘 | Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso | Your lie in April
Genre: Alternate Universe - Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso | Your Lie in April Fusion, KageHina - Freeform, M/M, Pianist Kageyama Tobio, Pianist Kindaichi Yuutarou, Pianist Kunimi Akira, Pianist Oikawa Tooru, The S is for Slowburn, Violinist Hinata Shouyou, kinda self indulgent because PIANO, no beta we just die
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-27
Updated: 2020-07-25
Packaged: 2021-02-23 14:27:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 23,995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23346223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lumenera/pseuds/lumenera
Summary: Kageyama Tobio quit piano two years ago, and he has no intention of going back. After his mother dies, he can barely stand the piano. But then, he meets a talented violinist who might just change his mind.Hinata Shouyou is determined to bring Kageyama back to the musical world, though it’s not as easy as he hopes.Or the Your Lie in April/Music AU that no one asked for.
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, Kageyama Tobio & Yamaguchi Tadashi, Tsukishima Kei/Yamaguchi Tadashi
Comments: 13
Kudos: 63





	1. Mezzo Piano

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kageyama can't get away from music, Yamaguchi breaks a window and subsequently freaks out, Tsukki is unbothered, and Yachi is going to meet someone new.

The one habit Kageyama Tobio is sure he’ll never break is tapping out the beat of the music. He’s doing it now, left hand tapping steadily while his right scratches out notes on the music paper in front of him. One of the few things he brought over from his old life, one of the few things he allowed himself to bring over. Transcribing comes naturally to him, almost as naturally as the piano once did. He hits pause, and he studies the music in front of him. It looks right, but Kageyama isn’t certain. He doubts his musical ability a lot more these days. He hits the restart button on his phone and follows along on the paper, allowing himself a nod of satisfaction when the first verse seems to be in order. Every note is in its place. 

He’s tempted to play it on the piano in front of him, but once he raises his fingers, he hesitates. Kageyama’s mixed feelings about playing return full force, so he draws his fingers away, shaking his head as he does so. He can’t do it. He can't play again.

He takes a sip from his milk carton, draining it of the last bit of liquid it has. It’s too far to throw into the trash can from here, so he stands up and walks over. Unfortunately for him, it’s a mistake. 

•••

Outside, Yamaguchi Tadashi stands shaking as he prepares himself to swing at the ball. Why did he agree to play again? _Well, we just need one more player, please, Yamaguchi-kun!_ What did he get himself into? It wasn’t like he was going to do anything important anyway, he was just waiting for Yachi and Tsukki and Kageyama so he could walk home with them. The volleyball gym was closed for maintenance, so there was no practice today. The pitcher throws the ball. _Just hit the ball just hit the ball just hit the ball_ —he swings with a lot more force then he expected, and he can only watch in horror as the ball gracefully sails over the fence. It hits the window with a large crash. Just his luck. 

Everyone turns to look at him, and he looks away. The last thing he wants is more attention. Well, he can leave the game now to go retrieve the ball, but he _broke a window_. 

He scurries as fast as possible to try to make it in and out before anyone notices, but that’s when he realizes just exactly which window he broke. _It’s one of the musical practice rooms_. It’s after school hours, but there are plenty of kids who practice in those very rooms. Yamaguchi panics. 

The body on the floor does not help his state of panic. 

“Yamaguchi, why were you running?” It’s Tsukki, coming down the hall. He looks into the room and his face twists into mild disdain. “Oh, it’s Kageyama.”

If anything, those words make Yamaguchi feel even worse. “I killed Kageyama,” says Yamaguchi in horror, covering his mouth. “Oh my—”

Kageyama stirs. Yamaguchi _screechs._

“Ow.” says Kageyama, dazed. “Yamaguchi, is that you?”

He breathes a sigh of relief. He did _not_ kill Kageyama. “Sorry Kageyama, I hit the baseball too har—is that _blood_?”

Kageyama’s nose is bleeding steadily, and blood is quickly dripping down the front of his shirt. He looks like he just committed a murder. Yamaguchi’s eyes widen to the size of dinner plates.

“He’ll live,” says Tsukki, expressionless. He puts his headphones back on. “Let me know when we’re walking home.”

•••

“It’s not too bad, Yamaguchi,” says Yachi in an attempt to cheer him up as the four of them grab their outdoor shoes. “You only have to write one letter of apology.”

“The teachers love you,” Kageyama adds. “They all know it was an accident.”

“I broke a window…” Yamaguchi seems to still be in shock, though he’s gotten over the fact he hit Kageyama. At least he’s not endlessly apologizing anymore, like he was earlier even though Kageyama told him it was fine. He isn’t bleeding anymore, so he doesn’t see why it still matters. Besides, he knows it was an accident on Yamaguchi’s part. The boy wouldn’t hurt a fly.

No one really talks as they walk home. Tsukishima has his headphones on, and Yachi is running over her to-do list, color coded, of course. Yamaguchi seems to have settled down, and Kageyama is lost in thought. They say their goodbyes to Yachi and Tsukishima, who live in a different neighborhood than Yamaguchi and him, and continue walking. Kageyama buys himself another milk box. He figures he deserves it, after the events that transpired today. Yamaguchi doesn’t say a word until they reach their houses.

“Hey, Kageyama,” Yamaguchi stops turns to face him. 

“Yeah?” Kageyama stops next to him.

“Are you doing anything tomorrow?”

“I don’t think so,” Kageyama scratches his head. “Why?”

“One of my classmates asked me to introduce him to Yachi and I don’t want to third wheel alone and Tsukki already said he wouldn’t go so please?” Yamaguchi gives him a pleading look. 

He sighs. Yamaguchi mentioned third wheeling, so it's that kind of meeting. His mind disregards the situation instantly, but it’s hard to say no to Yamaguchi. “Sure, I guess.”

“And he’s a violinist, so if the conversation ever drops, you guys can talk about music or something.”

“I guess.” He knows he isn’t being very responsive, but Yamaguchi’s other best friend is Tsukishima, who rarely talks. 

Yamaguchi beams, undisturbed by Kageyama’s lack of different answers. “Thanks, Kageyama! See you then!”

“Bye, Yamaguchi.” He waves goodbye to his friend and enters his front gate. “I’m home.”

The house is silent, like always. He knew that, but the silence still hurts a little. Taking off his shoes, he leaves his bag by the front door. He’ll get started on dinner later, because right now, all he wants to do is lay on his bed and finish his milk box. Once he’s done, he throws the empty carton away, and the volleyball lying on the floor catches his eye. It’s still early enough in the year that he could join if he wanted to. Tsukishima and Yamaguchi are on the team, and they seem to like playing. It’s not like he’s bad though, but his talents have always laid in music. He tosses the ball in the air from where he’s laying on his bed, methodically setting the ball back to himself. Once upon a time, Karasuno was known for their volleyball team. 

It isn’t long before he gets hungry, and Kageyama makes himself a small dinner of onigiri. It’s easy enough to make, so there’s a small chance he’ll burn down the house. He really needs to learn how to cook more kinds of meals. On a second thought, he makes tamago, because it goes well with the rice and seaweed. He eats in silence. He lives in a gray-scale world, not a lot of color. Black and white, just like the keys of a piano, and the in between of grey.

The night is silent, no sounds of pianos being played late into the night. From the Kageyama household, that music hasn’t been heard for the last two years.

The next day, Kageyama hits snooze on his phone’s alarm before remembering he made plans. Why did he agree to go, again? He groans, regretting his decision, but he won’t back out. He can’t leave Yamaguchi like that. He gets dressed and checks his phone. There’s a text from Yamaguchi, reminding him that they have plans today. He brushes his teeth and drinks a glass of water. He’s not too hungry, anyway. The location of the park Yamaguchi sends isn't far away, so he decides to walk instead of take the bus. It's a perfect Spring day out, not too hot, not too cold. The cherry blossoms are starting to bloom, a beautiful sight.

Kageyama hears faint music and he can’t help himself; he follows the noise. He can never get away from music. He’s early to the meeting; no one will mind. His friends aren’t even here yet. On top in the playground dome is a boy with a melodica, playing a song from _Castle in the Sky_ . Kageyama is hit with memories. _Mama, please let me play this! Sure, Tobio. Why not? Here, let me show you how it’s done, and then you can copy me, okay?_

“None of the birds came,” says one of the children sadly, standing underneath the dome.

“Well, it worked for Pazu!” retorts another of the children.

“That’s because it isn’t a trumpet.” says the last child.

“Why don’t all of us play together? Maybe then the birds will come.” the older boy suggests. All of the children brighten up instantly, and clamber on up to join the first boy with a melodica. They make an interesting quartet: two melodicas, one castanet, and a plastic recorder. Not the first choice Kageyama would have made, but it seems to work.

He takes his phone out to snap a pic of them playing merrily, but at that moment, the tallest boy notices him and goes berserk. The force of his jump pins Kageyama to the ground, melodica to his neck. 

“Whatcha doing? Why were you taking a picture of me? You wanna fight, huh?”

(“My melodica!” one of the kids wails from the background.)

His first thought is, _wow, the boy is much shorter up close._ His second thought, _a melodica to the throat hurts a lot more than he expected._ The boy has bright orange hair, and his brown eyes are filled with determination.

“Hinata!!” calls a voice. Both the boy and Kageyama look to see who it is. It’s Yamaguchi and Yachi, waving. Kageyama watches as the boy’s demeanor changes.

“Yamaguchi!” Hinata releases him, and Kageyama rubs at his throat. _That hurt_ . He pauses. _That’s_ Hinata?

“I suppose introductions are in order,” says Yamaguchi once everyone is standing together. “Yachi, this is Hinata. Hinata, this is Yachi. And _that_ idiot is Kageyama.” He points to Kageyama.

“It’s very nice to meet you!” says Yachi. She’s trembling a little bit, but a few minutes later, she seems to have warmed up to Hinata entirely. They definitely hit it off great. Kageyama steps back a little, not fond of the idea of third wheeling. Yamaguchi joins him, looking very pleased at himself for a successful meeting. They look good together, Kageyama admits. Hinata is short, but Yachi is a bit shorter. He casts his eyes around, trying not to look at them. It’s awkward to stare, after all.

His eyes catch on the nearby building, and he walks a little closer, trying to read the name of the building. “Is that?” Kageyama’s voice trails off, and they all turn to see what he’s looking at.

“Towa Hall.” Hinata finishes for him. “I’m performing there today.”

The hour chimes, as if right on cue. Hinata’s eyes widen. “I’m gonna be late!”

“Come on!” says Yamaguchi. “We’re gonna go watch Hinata play!”

That gets everyone moving, but Kageyama is frozen. Hinata turns back around, noticing that he still hasn’t moved. Hinata reaches for his hand. “Come on, Kageyama-kun.”

He takes Hinata’s hand, and they all run.

And Kageyama thinks to himself, _is this what the world looks like in color?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first fanfiction, hope you enjoy it! Thanks for giving it a try  
> -lumenera


	2. Crescendo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A return to music.

“Let’s go!” Yamaguchi says. “Run faster!”

Hinata and Yachi are both laughing, and Kageyama is trying not to go so slow that Hinata ends up dragging him. (He was startled, after all, by all the energy that this short boy has in front of him.)

“We still have time, I’m not going first.” says Hinata. He picks up a violin case at the entrance of Towa Hall, and Kageyama scowls at the mistreatment of the instrument. Hinata should have never left it alone like that, unattended. Walking through the building brings back all the memories, too. How many times had he walked through, just like this for another competition?

“Wow,” says Yamaguchi, surveying the building. “I haven’t been here in a while.”

He’s probably attended half, maybe more than half of the competitions Kageyama has been in, all part of being his next door neighbor, of course.

“There are so many people!” says Yachi, a little starstruck. She’s right. It’s a relatively new competition, one that Kageyama hasn’t heard of before, but the building is packed. The competition must be fierce though; to make into competitions in high school, in music, no less, means serious commitment. Just exactly how good is Hinata?

“Is that Kageyama Tobio?” The whispers have begun. Kageyama can hear them as they travel from one end of the hall to the other.  _ The Genius Pianist. Human Metronome. King of the Keys. Isn’t he the youngest winner of the Maihou Piano Competition? What’s he doing at a violin competition? Is it true that he stopped in the middle of a performance? Mama, look, that’s ‘the’ Kageyama Tobio. _

“You’re such a celebrity,” Yamaguchi whispers to him, teasing. Kageyama frowns at him, but he’s not mad. Yamaguchi is right, he is a musical celebrity, and that will haunt him wherever he goes. Hinata disappears, probably backstage to get ready. He’s listed as fourth to go in the program Yachi has in her hands. Yamaguchi pushes open the doors to the auditorium so that the three of them can get seats. Thankfully, it’s a lot less crowded in here than it was outside, considering that the competition hasn’t officially started yet. It’s not hard to find three seats with a nice view. He hasn’t been on this side of the competition, well, ever. It’s kinda nice, not having to face the immense pressure competitions always bring. The auditorium slowly fills up around them, and then the PA speaker comes on, announcing the beginning of the competition. The lights dim, and the first violinist takes the stage with his accompainst in tow.

The accompanist starts to play, and the boy joins in soon after.  _ Brahms’ Violin Sonata No. 1 in G Major, Opus 78. The first movement, Vivace ma non troppo.  _ It’s slow and soothing, but lively. The boy currently playing isn’t bad, but...he’s a little bit off tempo, Kageyama realizes. The violinist and the accompanist aren’t in sync. Everyone politely claps when he’s finished, and the second competitor takes the stage. Her performance is more or less the same, good, but not great. He turns to look at his companions. Yachi is enthralled by the stage, while Yamaguchi looks a little bored. Of course, he’d been to dozens of Kageyama’s competitions and all of them had been just as long. The third violinist comes onto the stage, and she is positively shaking. Kageyama can see it from where he sits in the audience, it’s that bad. A murmur runs through the crowd. They can empathize. Her accompanist is more relaxed, but there’s something different about him too: he’s young. Accompanists were usually older adults, but he—

“Kageyama,” Yamaguchi whispers from his left. “He’s our age.” 

“They both look so young,” Yachi whispers from his other side.

Despite all the girl’s nervousness, she pulls off a good performance, better than the ones before her, if Kageyama is being honest. The accompanist is flawless in his playing, never missing a beat. The thunderous clapping follows them as they leave the stage. She’s more laid back now, laughing with her accompanist as they exit; he’s smiling. He looks familiar, Kageyama is close enough to the stage to see that, and yet too far away to see what he properly looks like.

Then Hinata takes the stage. He looks nothing like he did earlier, now dressed in a black suit, shiny violin in hand. His fiery orange hair stands out proudly. Kageyama has to admit that he looks good, and thinks again.  _ What is going on inside his head? _

“It’s Hinata!” says Yamaguchi, delighted.

His accompanist presses the first note, and Hinata raises his bow. His first note is forceful, almost like he wants to make sure the audience is paying attention. It does the trick; heads shoot up. All eyes are on him. He plays with passion and intensity that the other three competitors didn’t have, making Hinata Shouyou a force to be reckoned with on stage. He forgoes the sheet music almost entirely. It’s almost like—

“He’s picking a fight with the composer,’ Kageyama murmurs, a little bit in awe. The tempo, the dynamics, they’re all different then the original. This song isn’t Bethoven’s anymore, it’s Hinata’s. He owns this song.

“Is this the same song?” Yachi asks. Kageyama nods. The audience is spellbound by Hinata’s playing. On the final note, they burst into applause, a standing ovation.

“We will now take a 15 minute intermission.” The audience spills out into the reception hall, still buzzing about Hinata’s performance. Kageyama waits with Yamaguchi and Yachi off to the side. Hinata steps through the backstage doors, dressed in normal clothes again, talking with some of his other competitors. They’re all smiling, how he managed to charm them so fast is beyond Kageyama, considering  _ he _ got the melodica to the throat.

Two kids, a boy and a girl, run up to Hinata with flowers in their hands. “Hinata-san? We heard your performance and we thought it was so good that you should get flowers!”

“Thank you!” Hinata says graciously, adjusting his violin to his back to accept the flowers. “I’m glad you liked it.”

His eyes spot the three of them. “I have to go now, but thank you for the flowers!” he tells the kids. They run off, and Hinata walks towards them.  _ It’s almost like we’re in a movie _ , Kageyama thinks. He sees in slow motion, Hinata coming forward, Yachi and Yamaguchi coming to greet him. The protagonist, the close friend, and the love interest, a perfect character triangle. Kageyama suddenly feels like he doesn’t belong in the scene. He’s just a background character, maybe a nameless one, called Friend A.

‘You did fantastic!” Yachi says.

“Yeah, it was amazing!” Yamaguchi agrees.

“Thanks!” Hinata beams at them. “Kageyama, what did you think?”

“It was,” Kageyama searches for the words. “Different.”

Hinata accepts this, and he and Yachi and Yamaguchi go back to talking, arms waving and heads nodding. Kageyama can’t shake the feeling of being out of place. He turns around, feeling someone’s eyes boring into the back of his head, and Kunimi Akira stares back at him. He’s still wearing the suit he wore when he played the piano for the third violinist, who is standing next to him. A Seijoh jacket is draped over his arm, holding a slim paper folder, which had to be the music that he just played.

For every competition Yamaguchi attended, Kunimi attended twice as many for one reason, to compete against Kageyama. He hasn’t seen Kunimi in almost two years; once he stopped competing, he stopped seeing everyone else in that musical social circle. They weren’t friends though, more like rivals. He can’t find anything to say to Kunimi, so he just dips his head. Kunimi does the same, then he and the girl walk away. Everyone is called back to the auditorium for the second half of the competitors, and it’s about as dull as the first half. Same song, same mistakes in the same place. 

The judges are quick to post the scores, so everyone doesn’t have to wait long. He finds the name he’s looking for in third place.  _ Kunimi Asuka, accompanied by Kunimi Akira.  _ So Kunimi has a sister, maybe a cousin that played the violin.  _ Interesting.  _

Hinata’s name isn’t in the top 5. Yachi is disappointed, because “It was such a good performance!” but Kageyama knows better. Everything that Hinata did on stage goes against all the music playing rules, and he wouldn’t be surprised if the judges disqualified him after the first 30 seconds of playing. Hinata himself doesn’t seem bothered by this. He makes the results list as the audience’s favorite though, and because of that, he gets to play in the second round.

“We should celebrate!” says Yachi. “Do you want to go to a cafe?”

Hinata’s eyes perk up. “A cafe? Sure!”

The nearest cafe is almost about to close, but they squeeze in just in time to buy curry buns, which Hinata says are his favorite. The conversation fizzles out as everyone enjoys their buns. Hinata scarfs his down in three bites and quickly doubles back to get a second one. He still has the same amount of energy he did when Kageyama met him almost 6 hours earlier. Kageyama almost feels tired looking at him. Yamaguchi is yawning as he takes small bites of his bun.

‘I think I’m going to head home now. Kageyama?” It’s not hard to read the undertones in Yamaguchi’s voice. Plus, he’s giving him a look that’s as clear as day.

“I have homework I need to do, so I’ll go with you.” It’s not a lie, Kageyama has homework he’s been putting off, but it’s not that important. He knows Yamaguchi wants to give Yachi and Hinata some time alone. Besides, he doesn’t want to third wheel on the two of them, it would just be awkward for him.

Yachi and Hinata wave goodbye. Kageyama finishes off his bun, his stomach reminding him that he hasn’t eaten anything all day.  _ He’ll eat when he gets home, _ he promises to himself. And then he’ll do homework and try not to think about a pair of brown eyes that invaded his life. Yeah, that’s what he’ll do.

“So, what do you think about Hinata?” Yamaguchi asks him.

“He’s very vibrant.” Kageyama remarks.

“He and Yachi make a good pair.”

“Yeah. Yeah, they do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Vivace ma non troppo:_ "Up-tempo, but not too much"
> 
> Thanks to everyone that left kudos, they made my day :)  
> The songs featured in this fic won't entirely be the same as the ones in Your Lie in April, because I didn't want to copy the plot entirely, so if you want to know what the Sonata sounds like, you can listen to it here:  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiYfbLMpmgM
> 
> The next chapter should be posted April 4th, so see you then  
> -lumenera


	3. Bruscamente

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hinata [7:03 PM]: _hey yamaguchi?_  
>  Yamaguchi [7:05 PM]: _Yeah?_  
>  Hinata [7:06 PM]: _do you think kageyama is happy without music?_
> 
> Poor Kageyama. There is no escape, only Camille Saint Saens. Only Introduction Et Rondo Capriccioso.

On Monday, Kageyama escapes for lunch to the practice room, like always. This time, however, someone is waiting for him. He has no idea how Hinata managed to find him, but he instantly turns around. He refuses to eat lunch with _him_.

“Kageyama,” Hinata calls after him. “Where are you going?”

“To go eat lunch.” _He could go to the roof,_ he thinks; it’s usually empty up there.

“Don’t you normally eat in the practice room, though?”

“What’s it to you?”

“Why did you quit piano?” Kageyama stops dead in his tracks, turning around to face the shorter boy. _Does he have no sense of personal boundaries?_ He should yell at him for being so insensitive, so brazen.

“Why do you care?” He snaps back instead. Two can play that game.

Hinata’s eyes are on him, and Kageyama shrinks under his intense gaze. “Kageyama Tobio. Youngest winner of the Maihou Piano Competition. Winner of the Saki Piano Competition, 3 years in a row. Youngest person ever to play with a full orchestra. Most commonly referred to as a human metronome or the King of the Keys because of the precision and accuracy of your playing onstage.”

“You’ve done your homework.” He’s a little impressed that Hinata’s able to rattle off all those facts about Kageyama. He hasn’t thought about his title in ages, but he hasn’t needed to. He doesn’t want to think about it.

Hinata just shrugs. “No musician our age doesn’t know of your name. All of what I just said was just common knowledge.”

He still has his eyes fixed on Kageyama with that stare of his. Those eyes look like they could burn right though your soul, which is why he’s compelled to tell Hinata the truth.

“I can’t hear the notes anymore,” he admits. “I stopped being able to hear them a couple years ago.”

“Why not?”

Kageyama sighs. “That’s not an easy thing to answer. Piano…” He trails off. “Piano was my dream, once upon a time. I loved playing. My mother taught me, she was a well renowned pianist. She almost went international, but then she had my sister and me, and she switched over to teaching so she could stay at home more. Then she got sick.”

Hinata nods empathetically. Kageyama Aoi was well beloved by the Japanese music world, and mourned when she passed a few years ago. In her own right, she was a talented musician.

“Playing then became something that made her happy, and once she was gone, it felt useless to play, because she wasn’t around to enjoy it. I tried playing with other people, but they said that all I wanted was the spotlight. I’d become so good at piano everyone else then had a hard time keeping up. Then the notes disappeared. So I stopped playing.”

It’s a mix between not wanting to play and not being able to play. Kageyama isn’t sure how to articulate this though, to the bright boy who’s all sunshine and smiles and determination. Music means the world to Hinata. Kageyama physically can’t play, freezing up right when he tries. The practice room was as close as he got, sitting on the bench, hands poised, but he didn’t dare press down. He’s not sure if he could deal with the disappointment that will inevitably follow when no sound comes out. He can’t do it. That’s not a battle he thinks he’ll win.

“But the notes are still there somewhere, aren’t they?”

“Maybe.” Kageyama has given up on music, but it still finds him wherever he goes.

“Be my accompanist.”

“What?” The sudden change in the topic confuses him.

“Be my accompanist.” Hinata procures a folder from his backpack. “My last one quit because she didn’t like that I went off sheet music.”

“I...I...I can’t.” Kageyama shakes his head vigorously. “No. No, I can’t be your accompanist.”

“Why not?” he demands.

“Were you not listening, Hinata-boke?” He can’t resist the urge, so he whacks Hinata on the top of his head. “I told you that I can’t hear the notes!”

“So what, _Bakageyama_?”

His persistence ticks Kageyama off, and so does the new nickname. Though to be fair, he was the one that technically started the name calling. He curls his hands into fists. “So? What if I don’t wanna play?”

Hinata looks at Kageyama like he just killed his cat or something. “We’re musicians. It’s what we do. What more reason do you need than that?”

“ _You're_ a musician. I’m not. Not anymore.” He slams the door of the practice room in Hinata’s face. The rest of the day passes without incident, but Hinata’s words still ring in his ears. _We’re musicians; it’s what we do. What more reason do you need than that?_

He hits his desk in frustration.

“Kageyama!” the teacher admonishes. 

“Sorry, sensei,” he mutters. The teacher fixes him with another stare, but continues the lesson on English verb tenses. He can’t get out of that class fast enough. Finally, the bell rings, and he’s reminded that he has cleaning duty today. He does a more haphazard job than usual, his mind distracted. When the classroom is more or less in order, he leaves, only to run into Yamaguchi waiting outside for him. The last thing he thinks he’d ever see is the day where Yamaguchi is scheming something up, but here it is. Yamaguchi _never_ waits for him right outside his classroom. 

“Kageyama?”

“Yes?”

“Has Hinata approached you at all today?”

Kageyama pauses, putting two and two together. “Wait, were you the one who told him where I ate lunch?”

Yamaguchi ignores the question. “Did you take him up on his offer?”

He sighs sharply. _Scheming neighbors._ “No, why would I?”

“You miss piano, don’t you?”

Now it’s Kageyama’s turn to dodge the question. “Don’t you have practice today?”

Yamaguchi checks his watch. “I’m okay for a few more minutes, answer the question.”

“I don’t know.”

“You should take him up on his offer,” he urges Kageyama.

“Yamaguchi,” Tsukishima calls from down the hall. “We’re going to be late.”

“Sorry Tsukki!” he says. “Tobio, you should think about it.”

Yamaguchi runs off to volleyball practice with Tsukishima, and Kageyama watches them go. _Tobio, you should think about it. You miss piano, don’t you? We’re musicians; it’s what we do. What more reason do you need than that?_

He walks home alone.

•••

Tuesday is when the real scheming begins. It starts with Kageyama nearly getting run over with a bike. Hinata’s bike, to be precise.

“Be my accompanist!” he screams at Kageyama. The students around them give curious looks, but it appears that Hinata could care less. He hits the bell on his bike twice.

_Pretend he doesn’t exist pretend he doesn’t exist pretend he doesn’t exist_

“Oi, Kageyama! Are you listening to me?”

The day only goes downhill from there. He finds all of his homework assignments have been replaced with sheet music, his textbook has sheet music in it, even his phone’s _lock screen_ is the black and white of staffs and notes and rests and arpeggios, all of the same song: Camille Saint Saens’ _Introduction Et Rondo Capriccioso._ He complains about this to Yamaguchi at lunch, who he _knows_ is behind some of it.

Tsukishima, who’s nearby, just laughs at him. “You would have gotten a low grade on the homework assignments anyway.”

Yamaguchi says nothing, but there’s a small, pleased smile on his face as he eats his bento.

He goes to the practice room to sulk, only to see that Hinata(Or Yamaguchi) has already made his way there, the windows covered in taped copies of the same sheet music now haunting him. He growls in frustration. There will be no peace for him today, it seems.

The loudspeaker crackles, and soft chords of a piano starts to play, soon joined by a gliding violin. Kageyama’s eyes flare as he recognizes the music. What else could it be but Saint Saens? Introduction Et Rondo Capriccioso. He used to like the song, but now he doesn’t anymore. Part of him is curious how Hinata managed to convince someone to play the song for him, but the other part doesn’t care. He just wants this nightmare to be over.

When he gets home, he finds the entire interior of the house covered in sheet music. He drops his backpack on the ground.

“YAMAGUCHI!” Kageyama throws open the window that faces the Yamaguchi household, but to no avail. The adjacent window is also covered in sheet music as well. He sinks to the floor. There is no escape from Saint Saens, only music. Only Introduction Et Rondo Capriccioso.

The next day at school is more or less the same. Yamaguchi and Hinata don’t touch his backpack this time, but everywhere he goes, the sheet music follows. Class assignments handed back are sheet music instead. His graded tests have been replaced with black and white copies of the same scores. Hinata has once again convinced someone to play the song over the loudspeaker. Kageyama is slowly going insane, and he knows nothing in his willpower will be able to stop his descent into madness.

Blissfully, the roof is devoid of anything Camile Saint Saens. Kageyama is finally able to eat his lunch in peace, unbothered by the music that has now taken over his life. _Thanks, Hinata and Yamaguchi_ . There are no loud speakers on the roof, but really, there’s nothing on the roof at all. _This is nice_ , he thinks to himself. _This is the first peace I’ve had in ages, and I fully intend to make the most of it._

Unfortunately, lunch doesn’t last forever, and Kageyama’s nightmare returns. Sheet music is still everywhere. His teachers give him curious looks at every glare of annoyance and the nonsensical muttering.

He walks home with Yachi because Tsukishima and Yamaguchi have volleyball practice. At least she’s not in on Hinata’s and Yamaguchi’s schemes. When he gets home, in a burst of annoyance, he tears all the sheet music off the walls and stacks it in a messy pile on the Yamaguchi doorstep. He changes his phone’s lock screen back to its original, and he pulls all the sheet music out of his bag and adds that to the pile he left Yamaguchi.

He will make this as clear as he can for the two: He cannot play the piano again. He never wants to play again, no matter how hard they try to force him to. He never wants to play piano again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone needs to give Kageyama a break. 
> 
> Next Chapter: April 8th


	4. Andantino

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hinata tries convincing Kageyama, one more time.

“I just want him to be happy.” Yamaguchi tells him as they walk home together on Thursday. “He misses piano, I can see it in his eyes, but he won’t admit it.”

“But do you really think pushing him is the way to do it?” Hinata asks.

“I don’t know,” Yamaguchi sighs. “But I don’t want him to suffer if he chooses to never do piano ever again. He should give it one more try before deciding that, and if he really thinks he’s not cut out for it anymore, I’ll let it go.” He runs a hand through his hair. “I remember what he looked like, back when he loved piano. It looked like there was nothing wrong in his world.”

“He’s stopped coming to the practice room.” Hinata says. “Is he eating lunch with you guys?”

“I don’t know.” Yamaguchi looks concerned for his friend. “Kageyama is good at hiding when he wants to.”

“He’s not eating lunch with you? I thought you guys were good friends.”

“I think we are...” Yamaguchi gave a deer-caught-in-the-headlights look. “He’s like my brother, we’ve lived next to each other forever. But he and Tsukki don’t get along too well, sometimes I think Tsukki intentionally picks fights with him. So Kageyama normally doesn’t sit with us.”

“Where could he be hiding? The second round is tomorrow.”

•••

Hinata has two hours before the second round starts, and Kageyama is still refusing to play as his accompanist.  _ Stupid Kageyama _ . He drums his pencil on his desk as he waits for the lunch bell to ring so he can go ambush him. Yamaguchi said that he would provide transportation, so all Hinata has to do is convince him to play. Easier said than done. Yamaguchi got the easier job, because it would take a miracle to convince Kageyama to play piano again, regardless of who’s asking.

The lunch bell rings, signaling Hinata has 45 minutes before the second round starts. He dashes outside of his class only to be swept up by the crowd. Not for the last time, he wishes that he was taller so he’d be able to see over heads.  _ There _ . He spots a flash of black hair who he’s pretty sure is Kageyama, but it’s hard to tell when you live in Japan. But it’s Kageyama, alright. It’s hard to fight the flow of the crowd, and he loses the person he’s following somewhere on the stairs. The second floor is emptier, but Kageyama seems to have vanished into thin air. Time to check every room, it seems. It’s pretty easy, most of the rooms are empty. He gets a few curious looks at him darting about, but no Kageyama. At the very end of the hall, there’s a door slightly ajar marked “The Roof”. 

Kageyama is hiding on the roof. Hinata knows it. He runs up the stairs, taking two at time, bursting onto the flat roof surrounded by wire fencing. There’s a lone figure eating his lunch.  _ I’ve found you, Kageyama Tobio _ . He hears the commotion and looks up to meet Hinata’s eyes, scowling when he sees who it is. He has scowled every time since he met Hinata. In all honesty, Hinata doesn’t blame him. But he needs Kageyama to play again.

“The answer is no, I already told you,” he says, looking away. “I won’t play.”

“Kageyama. Please.” Hinata doesn’t know what else he can say at this point.

“How many times do I have to say no to get it through your thick skull?”

“Don’t throw away what you have in piano because you think you aren’t deserving of it anymore.” Out of the corner, he sees Kageyama stiffen. “You said that you weren’t a musician anymore, but that’s not true. Once you’re a musician, you never stop being a musician. And playing is what  _ we _ do.”

Hinata takes a deep breath, then bows, screaming his request. “SO PLEASE, KAGEYAMA TOBIO, PLAY WITH ME, EVEN IF IT’S JUST ONE LAST TIME!!” There are tears in his eyes. Hinata didn’t even realize he was crying, but tears splash onto the pale green of the rooftop. He cries harder, overcome by the emotions he’s experiencing. This is it, this is his last shot at convincing Kageyama to play again.

“I’ll play with you.” The words are so soft he doesn’t hear them at first.

“Huh?” He looks up, wiping the tears from his eyes with his sleeve.

“I said, I’ll play with you.” Kageyama’s words are still as soft as the first time he said them. “I can’t promise a good job, but I’ll play. I don’t even know if I’ll be able to touch the keys, but...Yamaguchi was right. I do miss piano; I miss music. I’ll give it one last try.”

Hinata throws his arms around him, and Kageyama immediately flinches away. 

“I don’t do hugs.” He’s back to his original Kageyama state now, all business and gruffness, but Hinata now knows what lies underneath his mask.

“Sorry, Kageyama.” he apologizes. Rule number one: don’t antagonize your accompanist, though Hinata already broke that one with his first. He vows to do better with his new one. Hinata procures the original sheet music from his backpack for Kageyama again, and this time, Kageyama takes it, his eyes scanning over the notes. Hinata has practiced his heart out, and he’s ready to play, but Kageyama has practiced exactly zero times in the past week. He has no doubt that Kageyama will be fine though, the prodigy in him will not fail.

They fly down the stairs where Yamaguchi and Tsukishima are waiting for them, one more unhappy than the other.

“We got bikes!” he says proudly. “Hurry, before lunch ends!”

For Kageyama, the realization that this is actually happening starts to set in. “Wait, what about school?”

Tsukishima snorts. “Kageyama actually caring about school for once. How interesting.”

Hinata waves two school passes in the air. “We were cleared this morning! Come on!”

Yamaguchi takes Kageyama on his bike, and Tsukishima takes Hinata. He is suddenly grateful that Yamaguchi had the foresight to tell Hinata to get the clothes and his violin to Towa Hall, so that their transition from school to competition would be hasslefree, except for the one big hassle called Get-Kageyama-To-Play-Piano-Again. But they pulled it off without a hitch, so everything is fine. Nothing to worry about.

They make it to Towa Hall in a record time from Karasuno, Kageyama holding on for dear life as it looks like he’s trying to absorb all the notes via osmosis with his look of sheer concentration. Hinata wants to laugh at him for the expression his face is making, but thinks better of it. Kageyama is really trying hard, and Hinata is grateful for that.

“Thanks a million, Yamaguchi! Thanks, Tsukki!” He waves goodbye as he drags Kageyama over the pavement. His head is still buried in the sheet music.

“My name is Tsukishima,” grumbles the taller boy.

“Do your best!” Yamaguchi shouts as they grow farther apart. “Good luck, guys!”

They make it in on time. Hinata finds the room he marked this morning and thrusts Kageyama’s suit at him.

“Huh? Where’d you get that?”

“Yamaguchi, now put down the music and get changed, you can look at it after.” Kageyama obeys obediently. Hinata turns away and changes into his own black suit. Opening his violin case, he quickly checks to make sure his violin is in tune, plucking each string twice.  _ E, A, D, G. _ He tuned it this morning, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. Anything could have happened between now and this morning. He rosins his bow too. When he looks over, Kageyama is fully changed and back to staring at the music. His slender fingers are tapping out the notes in thin air, nails neatly trimmed.  _ Pianist habits must die hard for Kageyama, _ Hinata thinks. He’s seen pictures of Kageyama in a suit before, but those were a few years old, and they don’t compare to the sight in front of him. Kageyama is stunning; the dark blue suit compliments his eyes perfectly.

_ Now is not the time to have a bisexual crisis _ , he chides himself gently.  _ What an inopportune moment _ . He puts more rosin on his bow again, so Kageyama doesn’t catch him staring and everything doesn’t turn awkward. Hinata isn’t going to be more prepared than this, so he opens the door. The room is so small, it felt hard to breathe in, trapped in a confined space. He’s always preferred the outdoors and large, soaring rooms.

They wait outside with some of the other competitors. Hinata recognizes them from the last round, and makes some small talk while they wait for their turns. Some have taken the opportunity to fit in some last minute practice, so not everyone is waiting together. Kageyama is trading looks with the only other young accompanist in between furiously glancing at the music tightly clutched in his hands. If Hinata remembers correctly, that boy played the piano part for the violinist right before him. What was his name again? Kunimi, or something like that, same as the girl. He’s good, but not as good as Kageyama.

Hinata is listed last in the program, because he was the audience’s favorite. It’s slow, waiting for his turn. He taps his foot impatiently. Kageyama has his eyes closed on concentration, and Hinata doesn’t want to bother him. Both of them will do as best they can.

BONUS KUNIMI SCENE

Seeing Kageyama throws Kunimi off, but he’s nothing if not professional. He recovers quickly, refusing to look Kageyama in the eye. What’s he doing here? He’s seated next to that jumpy, oranged haired violinist who blew the crowd away last time, but it’s hard to imagine  _ the King _ playing with someone so avant-garde and untraditional. Hinata Shouyou’s performance was good, but the exact opposite of every performance Kageyama Tobio ever gave. Off tempo, off dynamics, wild and unpredictable, while Kageyama plays with little emotion. Rigidly stuck to the tempo and dynamics, never once straying from the pages in front of him.

Somewhere, Asuka is doing a last minute practice. She’s nervous, but Kunimi isn’t sure why, she did fantastic last time. The second go around should be much easier than the first. 

(“But that’s easy for you to say, you’ve been competing your whole life, Akira.” Her fingers were peeling when she finished practicing, so Kunimi had to force her to take a day off.)

Asuka appears right before her name is called. The strings on her violin near the bridge, Kunimi notices, are covered in white dust. She must have forgotten to wipe all the rosin off before coming over.

“Here, let me.” He gestures, and she hands over her violin. He pulls a soft cloth from his breast pocket and wipes them clean in three quick strokes, folding the cloth and tucking it back into his pocket. “There. Ready?”

She rosins her bow one last time before nodding. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The silence is deafening, the expectant audience waiting for the two of them to fill the room with melodious sound. _We own the moment,_ Kageyama realizes. All eyes are on them.  
> It's their turn to play.

At long last, it’s their turn to play. The notes repeat themselves in Kageyama’s head over and over as he flips through the sheet music. Despite the annoyance Yamaguchi and Hinata caused when they posted it everywhere and played it over the loudspeaker, Kageyama can say that it’s helping him visualize the song in his head now. The notes smoothly transition from one to the next, soaring and falling with the dynamics. His hands fly over the paper, trying to get all the notes down. This was not how he wanted to make his return to the music world, so woefully unprepared. To play this song on stage, he should have known it by heart, not needing the sheet music, to play it flawlessly. Next to him, Hinata is entirely and utterly still, a change from the ball of energy he was earlier.

“Hey, Kageyama?”

“Yes, Hinata?” He pauses, his frantic fingers coming to a halt.

“You should look up more. You’re always looking down.”

“What’s  _ that _ supposed to mean?” He’s seconds from grabbing the smaller boy’s collar, but before Hinata can respond, his name is called to perform. It’s time. They walk out on stage, Kageyama’s hands gripping the stapled score like it’s a lifeline. Being thrust back into the music world after so long is disconcerning, but he welcomes the familiarity of it. It’s just another competition. He discards the fact that he hasn’t practiced at all, his sight reading ability is decent enough for one performance. Murmurs fill the audience with noise, a slight buzz as they register who is on stage, but this time, not all of them are for Kageyama. Hinata Shouyou commands their attention, and he knows it. He cheekily grins at the crowd.

Kageyama is glad for the barrier. Hinata is helping take eyes off of him, turning them onto himself. He never thought he’d return to piano, much less have his first time playing in competition with a demanding audience, a  _ violin _ competition, no less, but here he was. The silence is deafening, the expectant audience waiting for the two of them to fill the room with melodious sound.  _ We own the moment, _ Kageyama realizes. All eyes are on them.

The audience claps as they bow. Kageyama adjusts the height of the piano bench, taking his time. The black leather is familiar, yet unfamiliar at the same time. He takes a deep breath and sits down. Kageyama and Hinata lock eyes. He nods once, and Hinata raises his violin to his shoulder.

The first chord takes all of his willpower, but slowly, the rest fall in place. The more he focuses, the more the piece overtakes him, the more he has to fight to keep going, to keep playing. Hinata is playing normally, sticking to the score, which gives Kageyama some small confort. It’s something to match his playing to. He’s taking a lot more comfort in Hinata than he thinks he should be, but Hinata himself doesn’t seem to notice. The violinist is engrossed in his playing, fingers pressing down on the strings while the other hand moves gracefully with his bow. He’s glad that his part is just the accompanist part though, in the background, there’s no way he’d turn out a good performance if he had the melody like Hinata does. As long as he keeps a good eye on the sheet music and listens to Hinata, he should be fine. It’s not too hard of a song to give him much trouble.

Hinata shines in this piece like the sun, soaking up all the lights and attention like he was born to play. And maybe he was.

Kageyama’s fingers hit the chords smoothly. So far, so good. He and Hinata make it through the first two series of thirty-second notes, and Hinata’s violin gives the high notes without trouble. His eyes stray toward the audience, hoping to find something there that will ground him, but no such luck. In the very back left corner is a woman in a wheelchair.  _ Mama?  _ His heart stops.

_ Focus, Kageyama, focus.  _ His eyes target the pages in front of him, blurring everything else out of sight. The notes disappear as quickly as they came, and Kageyama’s hands pound into a silent piano. Hinata is still playing the violin for all it is worth, but he doesn’t know if what he produces matches the violin. He can’t breathe. His fingers frantically move faster and faster, hoping to find something,  _ anything _ .  _ Anything. _

It is the bottom of the ocean, and Kageyama is drowning. Drowning in self doubt and insecurities and painful memories. Water fills his mouth as he tries to scream. He sinks and sinks until there is nothing left and he’s reached the rocky bottom. It’s dark on the ocean floor; not a lot of light comes through. In fact, there’s no light at all. Kageyama is truly and utterly alone, with nothing else but the thoughts in his head to keep him company. Nothing matters. The sound of Hinata’s violin is warbled and distorted through the ocean he’s conjured up. On stage, he is a statue, staring at the black and white keys. There’s nothing he can do. He never should have stepped foot on that stage.  _ I’m sorry, Hinata.` _

Hinata’s bow falls to his side, hitting the stand on the way down. The hall fills with silence. There is nothing.  _ Huh?  _ Kageyama looks up. The crowd murmurs, because why did they stop? His eyes lock with Hinata’s again; he’s looking at him with concern in those big brown eyes of his. Kageyama knows he’s just disqualified Hinata for good, and there’s a sinking feeling in his stomach. He knew he couldn’t do it. Music isn’t his weapon to wield anymore.

“What are you waiting for, Kageyama?” Hinata tilts his head at him, eyes wide and unassuming. There’s no trace of malice, the headstrong boy who tormented him with sheet music is long gone, and another stands in his place, the side of Hinata Shouyou he’s never seen before.

He curls his hands into fists, wanting to bash his head into the piano, to scream. “I’m sorry. I can’t do it.”

“With me here, you’re invincible.” Hinata promises, and Kageyama wants to smack him, because they’re on stage, and he has the audacity to say things like this. Does he ever listen to the words that come out of his mouth? “We’re musicians, aren’t we?”

Hinata turns back around, clearly having said everything that he wants to say.  _ With me here, you’re invincible. _

Kageyama takes a deep breath. Readies himself to play. Hinata lifts his bow and violin.

And they start again. Well, it’s just Hinata, really. He’s playing all by himself, the lone sound empty without piano.

_ Focus, focus, focus. Kageyama. You know what to do.  _ The song is inside him now from the endless hours of listening to it during lunch breaks and seeing it all over his house, all over his life. All he has to do is draw it out.

The ocean’s dark waters taunt him, pressing down from all sides. Mocking him. But this time, the violin music sounds clear as day. And as he keeps watching, the water splits to reveal a ray of light, shining down at him, illuminating his surroundings. Light shines even in the darkest ocean.

His fingers hit the notes forcefully.

The song turns into a duel, then a dance between the two of them. Nothing else matters but the notes in front of him. Kageyama plays more erratically than he ever has in his entire life, but Hinata matches him, note for note. He and Kageyama trade punches in music, sweeping up the audience in their wake. The exhilaration runs through Kageyama’s veins.  _ This  _ is music.

Hinata bows the last note, and the applause they receive is ear shattering noise. Kageyama is reminded of how good it felt to finish a piece, just like that, and a longing to return to play sweeps over him. He breathes it all in.  _ Remember this moment. _ The cool AC on a decent spring day, the bright lights shining down on them, the faces he picks out from the audience. _ Remember what the music makes you feel. Don’t let anything take the feeling away from you. _ When he looks at that back corner again, there’s no one there at all. It was just an illusion, conjured up by the depths of his mind.

“Kageyama, we did it.” Hinata says, smiling at him. That might be the first real smile he’s gotten from Hinata since he met him, so he does his best to smile back. It’s apparently not very good, because Hinata’s face immediately turns into confusion, then indignance. “You look like you’re trying to murder me, I just complimented you!”

“I was smiling at you!” Kageyama hisses at him. The next words are hard to say, and he chokes them out. “The performance was knuff...knife...nice.”

“You call that a smile?” Hinata makes a face at him. “That’s the furthest thing from a smile I’ve ever seen. You can’t give compliments either, it seems.”

If they weren’t on stage, Kageyam would have happily hit Hinata for saying these things, but he has to maintain professionalism. He settles for a glare instead, taking satisfaction in the fact that Hinata has to look up at him when they talk, because there’s not much else he can say at this point. Ah, the perks of being tall.

They start to make their exit when Hinata collapses on the slick wooden flooring. The hall falls deathly silent. The next sound is his violin hitting the ground with a hollow thud. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cliffhanger :)  
> You can find a recording of Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso here:  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCsB3WtlyaM
> 
> I'm hoping to have the next chapter up by April 16th, but we'll see with online school and all. Thanks for reading!  
> -lumenera


	6. Adagio

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tsukishima pines. Kageyama is dragged into thirdwheeling.

Hinata’s sitting up and wide awake when they come to visit two days after the competition at Towa Hall, all smiles as they file in one by one. He’s dressed in light blue hospital scrubs, the topmost button unsecured. Kageyama most definitely isn’t staring. The small room suddenly feels a lot more crowded once everyone’s inside, Kageyama notes, but doesn’t say anything. It’s just for the visit, they’ll all manage. “Yamaguchi, Yachi-san, Tskuishima, Kageyama, hi!”

“Hey, Hinata!” Yamaguchi smiles back at him. “We brought you a treat!”

“Thanks so much!” Hinata eagerly reaches for the pastries Yachi holds out for him.

“Are you okay?” she asks.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” He beams reassuringly at her, and she blushes. “The doctors just want to run a couple tests on me to make sure.”

“Has that ever happened to you before?” Yamaguchi tilts his head at him, concerned.

“Nope, that’s the first time.” Hinata replies. “I think I just overworked myself this time, between practice and trying to get Kageyama to play.”

They chat about a couple other trivial things, the brunt of the conversation taken on by Yamaguchi and Hinata, Yachi chiming in every now and then. Tsukishima stands there, watching, and Kageyama isn’t sure what to say, so he doesn’t say anything at all. Hinata doesn’t mention their performance once while they’re there, which makes him feel even worse.

The clock strikes three, and then it’s time for them to leave. Hinata bids them goodbye, and they all file out the door one by one again, Kageyama being the last one. He can’t leave without saying something, it wouldn’t feel right.

“I’m sorry for stopping in the middle of our performance.” Kageyama bows and turns to exit.

“Hey. Kageyama.” Hinata calls after him. Kageyama turns around, one foot in the doorway. “Have you been playing piano?”

He looks away. “No.” He tried, of course. Once he came home from Towa Hall, after they carted Hinata away on a stretcher in an ambulance, he sat on the black piano bench for the first time in years. He pressed the keys, but the sound was gone. He gave up and made himself dinner before heading straight to bed, but he doesn’t tell Hinata any of that.

“What, you’ve forgotten how to play already?” His tone is teasing.

Kageyama scowls at him. “ _No_. I--” he searches for a proper lie, because Hinata won’t take his so-called “excuse” of not being able to hear. “I haven’t had time, homework and such.”

“Oh." Hinata can hear through his lie, he’s sure of it. But he doesn’t say a word, and Kageyama leaves.

Everyone’s waiting for him downstairs. The skies are cloudy, a sign of impending rain ahead.

“There you are! We thought we lost you.” Yamaguchi says. Tsukishima doesn’t say a word, but that’s his standard greeting to Kageyama at this point. “Yachi went home already.”

They board the bus, and Yamaguchi and Tsukishima sit together. Kageyama picks a seat behind them. They make it just in time for the skies to open up with rain.

“Good thing we made it in time.” Yamaguchi smiles, but his eyes flicker about as a new thought arrives. “I hope Yachi made it home alright.”

He’s talking to thin air, though. Tsukishima has his headphones on, and Kageyama doesn’t know how to respond, so he says nothing. He feels like he’s doing that more and more now, not saying anything. He’s unsure how to feel about it, so he focuses on the rain outside instead.

•••

“Three blockers!” Tanaka calls, and he joins Tsukishima and Narita. They tense, then jump, but the volleyball flies right through Tsukishima’s outstretched arms, landing on the court behind them. He knows he should have put his arms closer together, but his mind feels like it’s in another country entirely. That might have been the fifth or sixth ball he’s missed today. He exhales sharply.

“Tsukishima-kun. Come here.” Suga calls him over when practice stops for a break. Tsukishima scowls. He didn’t think it was that noticeable. Next to him, Yamaguchi looks worried.

“Don’t worry,” He tells his friend before walking over to the sidelines. “Yes, Suga-san?”

“What’s wrong? Your playing is off today.” Suga hands him his water bottle before folding his arms across his chest, pinning him down with a stern glance.

“Nothing.” Tsukishima says curtly.

He raises both eyebrows, obviously not believing him. “Really?” 

“It’s stupid, I’ll get over it eventually.” He doesn’t want to meet Suga’s eyes, so he turns his head away.

“It’s affecting how you play. I don’t think that constitutes as nothing.”

Tsukishima Kei sighs, taking a drink of his water. “It’s just that...Yamaguchi’s been hanging out with other people more recently. He’s allowed to have other friends, I know that, I’m not stopping him, we just don’t hang out as much as we used to.”

“But Yamaguchi-kun is your best friend, is he not?” Suga points out.

He shrugs. “Best friends change. I might not be his best friend forever.”

Tsukishima can pretend it won’t affect him, even though it does. Yamguchi’s really been his only close friend for so long, and he supposes his second circle of friends includes Yachi and Kageyama, though he isn’t very fond of the latter. He preferred to be by himself and his headphones on rather than make friends that would leave without warning. Life was just simpler that way.

Seeing Yamaguchi smile and laugh, caused by other people, knots something in his heart, because it isn’t him making his closest friend happy. More than anything, it’s Yamaguchi endlessly apologizing to him, even though he doesn’t need to.

He knows Hinata and Yachi are supposed to have something between them, so he’s not worried about either of them, but Kageyama is someone who could very well be someone for Yamaguchi. Next-door neighbors, and he spent a lot of time putting up the sheet music with Hinata for him to boot. Kageyama is someone Yamaguchi easily cares about a lot, and Tsukishima isn’t sure where he falls in the spectrum of who Yamaguchi Tadashi cares about. Emotions are annoying, and he’d just rather not deal with them. Stupid crushes and feelings.

“You should talk to him about it.” Suga advises. “He can’t read minds and neither can you.”

Coach Ukai calls them back to practice with a sharp blast from his whistle.

“I’ll talk to him later,” Tsukishima promises, just to get Suga off his back, and downs more water before returning to the court for spiking drills. “Thanks, Suga-san.”

•••

Kageyama sees Hinata at school a few days later. There’s no one else he could mistake him for, not with that orange hair that sticks up everywhere. He can’t bring himself to approach him though, not after how things left off at the hospital. It’s better if neither of them acknowledges it.

Afterschool, he runs into Hinata and Yachi. Yamaguchi and Tsukishima are nowhere to be seen, getting ready for the upcoming Interhigh. He has it marked on his calendar.

“Kageyama-kun! We were just going to a cafe, you should join us!” Hinata says. Next to him, Yachi smiles encouragingly.

“Won’t I just be intruding on you two?” Kageyama snaps. He doesn’t mean to, but the words take effect, Hinata flinching.

“Oh, it’s just for fun,” Yachi says in a small voice. “It’ll be more fun with more people.”

He doesn’t want to make Yachi upset, so he quickly agrees. He knows he just signed up for third wheeling, but they insisted.

Apparently Hinata frequents cafes a lot, because the barista greets him by name when they enter. Kageyama gets a matcha latte because he isn’t really hungry, but he doesn’t want to sit there without buying anything. Hinata and Yachi both order milk bread buns, and then the conversation dissolves into one of which milk bread is better from where and what flavor. Kageyama is _definitely_ third wheeling. How did he get himself roped into this again? Right, he’s a massive pushover. He sighs. _Of course he is._

The cafe is quaint and homey, with the feeling of being well loved. It’s warm and smells like pastries. He takes a sip of his latte, and it’s surprisingly better than he thought it would be. Not too sweet, but the bitterness of the matcha isn’t overpowering.

The soft plinking of keys turns his head, and there are two young girls in the corner, heads bent over a white piano in the corner. There’s no kid in the world that wouldn’t recognize that song. Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. Of course, he knows it as 12 Variations on ‘Ah Vous, Dirais-Je, Maman’. One of Mozart’s most famous compositions. The girl playing is struggling through the theme, but Kageyama doesn’t fault her for that. She looks almost as young as he did when he started playing. He gets up to stand next to her, watching her play.

“Here,” he says, reaching out his hand, surprising both of them. “Your fingering is off. Can I?”

The girl nods, and he adjusts her tiny fingers so that her thumb rests on the C.

“It should be 3-2-1,” he explains. “So that when you go for the repeat, your fingers are already in position.”

“Thank you, nii-san!” She runs through the song again, but this time, the transitions are more fluid. Kageyama plays the left hand to accompany her. _C, C, E, C, F, C, E, C, D, B, C, A, F, G, C, repeat. E, G, D, G, C, G, B, G. E, G, D, G, C, C, D, C, B. C, C, E, C, F, C, E, C, D, B, C, A, F, G, C, repeat._

His hands launch into the first variation of their own accord. The girls gasp in awe, and that snaps Kageyama into focus. The sound of the notes disappears, and then he drops his hands by side.

“That was so good, why did you stop?” The other girl asks.

“Sorry.” he mumbles. To the other girl, he says, “Just remember that fingering. It’ll help.”

He goes back to his table, where Hinata and Yachi were watching him.

“I didn’t know you played, Kageyama.” Yachi comments mildly.

“I used to.” His latte has gone cold by now, but he still drinks the rest of it.

They leave the cafe before it gets too dark outside. Yachi bids them goodbye, as she lives in a different direction. Hinata’s bike is outside the cafe, but he still walks beside it, next to Kageyama. They walk in silence, which he prefers. Neither of them has to acknowledge anything if they don’t talk. He didn’t even know Hinata lived this way, but then again, he’s never walked home with Hinata before. He’s never needed to.

“Kageyama. You should join a piano competition again.” He hears the unspoken words Hinata’s trying to convey. _Because you’re a musician, just like me. It’s in our blood._

Kageyama knows by now that he can’t say no to Hinata. But even then, this request feels impossible. “There’s no way I can.”

“Why not? You played normally when you were my accompanist.”

Kageyama shakes his head. “Just, no.”

“What are you scared of?” He hates how Hinata so easily reads him like a book. He might as well have plucked the words out of Kageyama’s brain. “All of us are scared to go out there, you know. Maybe you’ll mess up, or they’ll all reject you. But time and time again, you still get up and get out there anyway because something compels us to make music.”

Everything about Hinata is joyful and bright. Part of him is inexplicably drawn to Hinata, like a moth to the sun. All Kageyama knows is that his whole world seems to shine brighter when a small, oranged haired, 153 cm boy is around. Kageyama wants to say no; that was his first instinct, after all. Every fiber in his being wants to say no. But those aren’t the words that come out of his mouth.

“I’ll do it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star:  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCKBl-TpRzc
> 
> Chapter's late, but I think I'm going to switch the update schedule to weekly, every Friday? We'll see how things go.


	7. Largamente

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He can already feel his right hand aching, and mentally berates himself for being such a pushover to small classmates with colorful hair.

On an impulse, he lets Hinata drag him to the library. They sit down in front of one of the computers, and Hinata types “Under 18 Piano Competitions Miyagi” in the search bar and hits enter, clicking on the first result.

_The Sendai Piano Competition for High School Students at the Sendai City Center. Open to all solo high school pianists in the prefecture of Miyagi. June 2nd._

“This is perfect for you.” Hinata says, and scrolls down to see the requirements. The set piece has to be a Chopin Etude.

“Just give me the first etude, then,” Kageyama says, but he doesn’t actually think Hinata was listening until he realizes the boy is typing in _Chopin Etude No 1_ _sheet music_. Etude Opus 10, No. 1 pops up. The Waterfall Etude. Kageyama sucks in a breath. He can already feel his right hand aching, and mentally berates himself for being such a pushover to small classmates with colorful hair.

“I’ve got a copy of the sheet music at home,” he says, putting out a hand to stop Hinata from hitting print.

“Great, then!” Hinata says. “It’s settled. You have little over a month.”

He wanders away to find a book for school, and Kageyama closes the tab. A sudden thought occurs to him, and he types in the competition Hinata played at. The Kunimis made it to the finals and placed 3rd overall. He nods in appreciation; that’s not bad. He remembers their performance was decently good, so the placing makes sense.

He closes that tab too and starts plotting for ways to get out of playing.

•••

When Hinata searched up the information, he didn’t register Kageyama. He holds onto this short lived victory for about a week before he is cornered, a feat for a boy at least 17 cm shorter than he is, waving the printed confirmation email in hand. “You better start practicing!”

 _Caught_. He both wants to play and doesn’t want to play, but at Hinata’s insistence, he caves. A pushover, indeed. Kageyama goes home and dutifully pulls the Chopin book from the shelves, brushing off the dust that collected during the time he neglected piano. They’re all in order by Opus and Number, so the etude he’s looking for is in the first few pages.

Etude Opus 10, No. 1. The left hand mainly consists of chords, and the right hand traverses the keys throughout the entirety of the song, giving it the nickname “The Waterfall Etude” by the way the notes rise and fall. A technically difficult piece, by all means, but anything by Chopin is already in that range.

He folds the book down so that it’ll stay open and pulls off the cover on the piano. Rolling back the fabric covering the keys, he sets the book on the stand, open to the etude. The late afternoon sunlight bathes the room in warm light.

Kageyama flexes and closes his palms a few times. Rolls his wrists. Cracks each and every finger. Then cracks both of his wrists. Finally, he touches the tips of his fingers to the keys. All of the muscle memory is still there, he just doesn’t remember it.

The C Major scale welcomes him home. He goes through the contrary motion scale, then the octave scale. Next is arpeggios, and lastly, his fingers fly through the chromatic scale. The sound is ever so faint, but there nonetheless. Small victories. That’s the easy part, the warmup.

Now the real challenge begins. He takes his hands off the piano and flips through the pages, silently reading, taking in each note. When he reaches the last measure, he goes back to the beginning and sets the book on top of the stand again. Realigns his fingers so they’re in position. And plays.

It sounds awful. _But it’s not bad for a first run through,_ Kageyama thinks roughly 4 minutes later. His right hand aches from all the arpeggios and lack of practice, and he was already playing it at a much slower tempo. It’s a demanding piece, the etude. He finds it hard to believe that Chopin composed it when he was only 19. Not his hardest, but still incredibly difficult by all means.

He sighs and goes at it again. His mother’s words ring in his head. _Practice it once, slowly, to get a feel for it, then break it down by page. Don’t go too fast. You don’t have to go fast._

“Sometimes the slower pieces are harder.” Kageyama says to thin air. “Don’t rush.”

He’s definitely soaking his hands after this.

He practices for about an hour, but by then, he stops because his hand is _dying_. He thinks he’s got a pretty good grasp on the notes by now, but not the same can be said about dynamics and tempo. He’ll refine things when he gets there, though. No need to rush. Besides, he has plenty of time.

Kageyama washes the rice with his left hand, his right hand unable to do much else. He gingerly flexes it a few more times. His left hand is fine; the worst Chopin did was octaves. The bass clef is a piece of cake compared to the tremble. One wrong note from the right hand could ruin the entire performance; he would know, he did it multiple times during his practice.

Another quiet night. He does his homework while he waits for the rice to cook. English is his worst subject, next to Japanese Literature so he tackles those first, to get them out of the way. His hand hurts less in the writing position, so it’s not too bad. It’ll be much more sore tomorrow, but he’ll deal with it when he gets there.

His phone buzzes, and he’s surprised to find a text from Hinata. He doesn’t recall getting Hinata’s number, much less giving his own out to him. Then he thinks about it, and figures it was from the sheet music fiasco he and Yamaguchi pulled about a month back. Hinata must have entered it when he wasn’t looking.

> Hinata [6:45 PM]: _heard you were practicing today_
> 
> Hinata [6:45 PM]: _!!! good !!!_
> 
> Kageyama [6:46 PM]: _Stalker_

He puts his phone back down, but it buzzes again.

> Hinata [6:46 PM]: _Yamaguchi heard you playing_
> 
> Hinata [6:47 PM]: _im not a stalker :p_

He frowns at his phone, considering going over to the Yamaguchi household to confront his friend. The rice cooker goes off, indicating it’s ready. Kageyama decides he’s too hungry to care and pulls a bowl from the cabinet. _Eh, whatever_.

•••

He brings the book to school a few days later to play during his lunch break. He’s got about 3 weeks left before the competition, and if he hasn’t backed out by now, he might as well go all in. His left hand doesn’t hurt as much anymore, so he speeds up the tempo. The rain outside makes for a nice background for an etude known as the Waterfall Etude.

He finds Hinata standing there in the doorway, phone in hand when he finishes playing.

“What are you doing?” He says in lieu of a greeting.

“I recorded your performance!”

“What the heck, Hinata?!” He gets up from the bench to punch him. Violence seemed more common as of the late, but hanging out with Hinata would do that to you. Just something about him made him want to punch him. _Or kiss him_ , Kageyama’s brain unhelpfully supplies. He shoves the thought away much like he shoved HInata away. Where did _that one_ come from? "You can't just record people."

“Well, you weren’t going to do it yourself.” Hinata says puncuently. “I did you a favor. You need a recording to prove you’re practicing for the competition.”

Kageyama opens his mouth. This is where he tells Hinata he doesn’t want to compete. He knows he keeps bouncing back and forth on the idea, but it’s better to back out then go through with it, right? He realizes there’s still time to back out.

“What, Yamayama-kun?” Hinata looks expectantly at him, waiting for an answer. “You’re just standing there with your mouth open.”

He blanches at the new nickname. “Yamayama-kun?” Bakageyama was bad enough, but this one is downright stupid. He hates it.

Hinata bobs his head a few times. “Yeah, Yamayama-kun.”

Kageyama raises his hand to hit him again. Hinata sees it coming and dodges the blow.

“Hey, Kageyama.” Hinata changes the subject, looking thoughtfully at him, tilting his head up so he could meet Kageyama’s eyes. “You’re really good at music. Like, really good. So why’d you choose Karasuno?”

“I was going to go to Aoba Johsai.” he admits. “But they were only going to accept me under the music program, and I quit playing that year. I almost tried for Shiritoriawaza, but they’re very selective about who they take through the general entrance exam. I didn’t meet the requirements, not anymore. Karasuno was my backup school. They didn’t care I stopped playing, as long as I passed the entrance exam.”

“Seijoh, wow!” _Hinata is easy to impress,_ Kageyama notes. “What about coming to Karasuno for the Little Giant? That’s why I came.”

He had totally forgotten Karasuno was where the Little Giant went when he was in high school. _Udai Tenma._ One of the best musicians in Japan and accomplished violinist. His mom had taken him to see one of his concerts before, back when he was much younger. Udai-san then was probably not much older than he was now.

“No,” He says slowly, because Hinata missed the memo the first time around. “I quit music.”

“Oh.” He droops, but perks right back up, waving his hands around as he speaks to emphasize his words. “His performances are super cool though, they’re like _gwah_ and _woosh_ and his bowwork is fantastic and just--”

Kageyama holds his hand up to cut Hinata off from fangirling further. “I’ve seen one of his performances before.”

“Awesome!” He was hoping that would shut him up, but that only serves to increase Hinata’s enthusiasm further. “I watched one too, back when I was in elementary school, and that’s what made me want to start playing the violin! And go to Karasuno!”

“Great.” he says flatly. “Can I get back to practicing now?”

Just watching Hinata talk makes him tired.

“Oh, sorry, Kageyama. I’ll let you get back to it. By the way, it sounds pretty good.”

It does not sound pretty good, but Kageyama accepts the compliment. His right pinkie finger is weak from the lack of practice, and every time his hand turns is a pain to keep in tempo. He has to keep practicing.

For the rest of the week, he practices at least two hours each day. It’s all slowly coming together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The [Waterfall Etude](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRgQgr4-at8) can be found here  
> It's a really pretty piece but a disaster for the right hand.  
> Thanks for reading as always!


	8. Affettuoso

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here comes the point where I'm glad no one looks at my search history, because they'd only find:  
> \- 12 different kinds of long lasting injuries/diseases (Other fics and some injuries acting up)  
> \- Way too many classical piano pieces to count, mostly Chopin (This fic)  
> \- Cat tree house on Amazon (For school)

On Saturday, the day of the competition, they all ride the bus together to Sendai. Tsukishima opted out, but Kageyama didn’t expect him to come. The same courtesies that extend to Yamaguchi and to a slight degree, Yachi, don’t extend to him. Yamaguchi, Hinata, and Yachi, however, are all with him.

He grips the slick, heavy fabric of his pants, the only crack in his stoic facade. He has practiced. Hours upon hours were spent on the black, wooden bench. He knows what he’s doing. At least Kageyama is more prepared than he was the last time he played for an audience. What could go wrong? _A lot of things_ , he tells himself. _A lot of things could go wrong_. He tries not to dwell on it.

Yamaguchi smiles at him. “You’ll do great, Kageyama!”

“Thanks, Yamaguchi.”

It’s been a long time since he’d been at the Sendai City Center, but it looks just as he remembers it. Blooming flowers in large stone planters frame three sets of glass doors. A couple trees here and there, small green buds extruding from thin branches.

Yamaguchi takes Hinata and Yachi to sit in the audience, and Kageyama trails after them, resting his hands on the cool metal of the door handle. He takes a deep breath, then enters the building. Like the exterior of the building, it looks the exact same as he remembers it. It’s probably looked that way for decades, the only thing changing was who graced its walls.

He stops at the base of the stairs once inside, very much aware of the two pairs of eyes that have locked in onto his face. He meets their gaze, raising his eyebrows. Kindaichi Yuutarou and Kunimi Akira stare back at him.

Kindaichi is clearly shocked. Kunimi, well, Kunimi’s expression is mostly blank. He just blinks at Kageyama. They look the same since the last time he saw them, for Kindaichi, that was two years ago. His hair is still slicked to a point, reminding Kageyama of an turnip. And of course, Kunimi looks the same, considering he saw him about a month ago at Hinata’s violin competition. Flat dark hair framing his face, same slightly bored expression, like he’s not too keen on being there.

It’ll be just like old times. How fun.

Kindaichi and Kunimi started joining him in piano competitions early on. Every time someone looked at the scoresheets in those early days, they would find the same three names: Kindaichi, Kunimi, then Kageyama, the three Ks. They competed against each other for nearly six years, until Kageyama quit. And now he’s back.

 _There are less than 15 students performing in the competition, so it’ll all be over in a couple hours_ , Kageyama muses in his head. Each etude is no more than 4 minutes long at most, most of them somewhere in the two to three minute range.

He replays his etude in his head as he walks backstage. He didn’t bring his sheet music, because then it was easier to focus on what he was playing when the time came. Besides, you looked less professional if you had sheet music on stage. Kageyama considers himself nothing if not a perfectionist when it comes to music. 

He seats himself in full view of the little screen that shows the stage, intending to watch the rest of the competition while he waits for his turn. Kageyama’s listed near the end, so he has a while to wait. He checks to see that his tie is properly knotted. Yamaguchi checked it over on the bus, but he’s got nothing better to do.

Kunimi is the first to take the stage, impassive as always. He bows for the audience, then takes his place on the bench. The beginning notes of Chopin’s Opus 25, No. 11 etude hum out from the keys, soft, and unassuming. Then a barrage of 16th notes begins, hence the etude’s nickname, “Winter Wind”.

Kunimi’s still as elegant a player as ever, his fingers positively dancing over the keys as he draws out the melody. In his opinion, Winter Wind is one of the harder etudes of Chopin’s. It’s been a long time since Kageyama has heard a decent performance of it, but Kunimi is no exception. Even when they were kids, he thrived on technical pieces.

There are a few renditions of Opus 10, No. 12, the Revolutionary Etude and of Opus 10, No. 4, the Torrent Etude. One brave soul who goes for Opus 10, No. 2, the Chromatique Etude. All pretty decent. There’s a certain level of skill needed to play Chopin, Kageyama muses. To play it as a high schooler, you’re well off in your musical talent.

Kindaichi is the second of the trio to play onstage. He’s chosen the etude right after Kunimi’s, Opus 25, No. 12. The Ocean Etude. It’s like the Waterfall Etude, with a slew of arpeggios, but Kindaichi has them on both hands, and with an increased tempo. Kindaichi hits each note with force and purpose, filling all three minutes of the etude with sharp sound.

There’s actually more variation than Kageyama originally thought there would be, after one of his fellow competitors finishes up her playing of Opus 10, No. 3, the Tristesse Etude, a refreshing change from all the faster pieces.

He checks the competitor’s list and realizes he’s up next after the next competitor. Time definitely went by fast enough that he almost didn’t notice, though typically that’s not something you would say about a classical music competition.

Kageyama quickly cracks all his fingers because he knows he won’t have time on stage. Just do it like practice, and he will be fine. He rolls his wrists in circles while he watches the girl performing ahead of him take the stage. Opus 25, No. 5, the Wrong Note Etude. Now _that_ is a fun song.

“Kageyama Tobio? You’re next on stage.” One of the competition aides informs him, clipboard in hand. He goes to stand in the wings, watching the girl’s performance live. She’s got a small smile on her face as she plays, like there’s no place else she’d rather be. He’s glad to see someone enjoying the piano. The quality of the screen backstage is terrible, so that makes her the first competitor he’s seen smile, and maybe the only one. He knows for a fact that neither Kunimi nor Kindaichi smile when they play, but he is no better.

The crowd gives a round of applause, and he steps onto the stage, crossing by the girl as she exits. Kageyama bows for the crowd, eyes wandering to pick out Hinata, Yachi, and Yamguchi all sitting in a row. Even in the dark, Hinata’s hair sticks out like a lightbulb.

He sits down at the bench and takes a deep breath. It’s just like playing at home, right? It’s not like he’s never been to a competition before, but that was back then, when he lived and breathed piano and couldn’t care less about what others saw in him. He was untouchable back then. _Back then_ . Kageyama now is more aware of the eyes on him, and what would happen if he messes up. _Just like playing at home_ , he reminds himself. Just like home.

His fingers touch the keys, and Kageyama begins to play. He recalls all the hours he spent in practice. His left hand presses down an octave, and his right soars over the notes, moving his thumb under the rest of his hand to cross the length of the keys.

He brings back the dreams of an eight year old, sitting desperately at the piano bench, feet not quite touching the floor. _I want to play. I want to play. I want to play and no one can stop me._

_And now I’ve got my shot. What will I do with it?_

His left hand hits the last C octave, and then he lets go of the notes. He stands and bows again as the audience claps, then leaves the stage with a lighter heart, more relaxed than when he got on. He hates to admit that Hinata is right, but he is. _We’re musicians, this is what we do._

He can’t but help the feeling that he was born to play music. Something about the stage, and the way it wrapped you up in the moment and the music made you never want to leave. All the nerves and work that lead up to the moment have to happen, because if not, it’ll never be worthwhile.

He’s definitely petty enough that he won’t tell Hinata that he’s right.

There are two more competitors, then the competition ends. The first one plays Opus 10, No. 4, but the second one plays Opus 25, No. 5. The irony is not missed on Kageyama, that the boy on stage actually hit more than his fair share of wrong notes. He cringes each time he hears an off note.

Kageyama places fourth. Respectable, but a far cry from the slew of first places in his youth.

“Nice playing, kid. Your mother would be proud.” says a voice behind him. He spins around to face the speaker.

“Ukai-san.” Kageyama nods in respect.

“Oh, don’t call me that.” Ukai waves his protests off. “Makes me feel old. Ukai is fine.”

“Thank you, Ukai.” It feels weird calling an adult without the honorific, but he insisted.

“How have you been?”

“Okay, I guess.” Kageyama shrugs. He isn’t sure what he’s supposed to say.

“If you want a piano teacher, Grandad would be happy to have you, you know that.”

“I’ll think about it.”

Ukai digs for his wallet and passes Kageyama a card with his phone number on it. “Give me a call if you want. And again, good playing.” He walks away.

“Ukai?” Hinata comes up behind him with Yamaguchi and Yachi in tow, eyes wide. “You know _Ukai-san_?”

Kageyama recalls Hinata’s obsession with the Little Giant. “That’s Ukai-san’s grandson, but he taught my mom piano. They’re family friends.”

If it was possible, Hinata’s eyes got wider.

“The Kageyamas are basically celebrities in the music world,” Yamaguchi says lightly, teasingly.

“You did a really good job, Kageyama.” Yachi says.

“Thank you, Yachi. Thank you for coming, as well.”

She ducks her head, stuttering out a, “Really, it was no big deal!”

They board the bus back home and say their goodbyes. All four of them get off at the same stop, but soon split off into their respective neighborhoods.

Yamaguchi pulls out his phone, and the screen buzzes, lighting up. He stares at it for a quick second, then asks, “Hey, Kageyama?”

“What’s up?”

“My mom wants to know if you want to come over for dinner. You can stay the night, if you want.”

“Sure.” It means Kageyama doesn’t have to cook, and Yamaguchi-san is one of the best home cooks he knows. Also, he wouldn’t mind the company. He will admit that sometimes it gets lonely, being all alone in his house.

He unlocks the door, then quickly shoves some clothes and his toothbrush into his backpack, along with his homework before knocking on the Yamaguchi household. Yamaguchi answers the door.

“Great, you’re here. Mama’s almost done preparing dinner.” Kageyama takes his shoes off at the door, then leaves his backpack beside it. He and Yamaguchi sit at the dining table and do a little homework together. He’s in a higher class than Kageyama, but the material is still similar enough. When they finish, they mess around with a volleyball in Yamaguchi’s small backyard.

“Nice receive,” Yamaguchi says after the ball flies back to where he’s standing. “You wouldn’t be half bad on the team.”

“I prefer music,” Kageyama tells him.

“Yeah, I know.” Yamaguchi gently bumps the ball back towards him. “I’m just saying. The team’s really small, there’s only eight of us. Daichi says we have another person who got suspended, but he’ll be coming back soon and that makes nine.”

Dimly, Kageyama tries to remember who Daichi is. The captain? Yamaguchi doesn’t talk about volleyball often.

“Tadashi!” Yamaguchi’s little brother, Toshiro, peeks his head out from behind the screen door. “It’s time for dinner.”

Kageyama reaches up to catch the volleyball and sets it down on the ground. Then, he and Yamaguchi head inside to eat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah this whole chapter is basically me rambling about Chopin's etudes, which are all notoriously difficult and I want to play one at some point but my fingers would _die_  
>  Etudes mentioned in this chapter:  
> [ Opus 25, No 11: Winter Wind Etude](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZjdAWgjLx8) (Played by Kunimi)  
> [Opus 25, No 12: Ocean Etude](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRlHKQXjzZY) (Played by Kindaichi)  
> Opus 10, No 12: Revolutionary Etude  
> Opus 10, No 4: Torrent Etude  
> Opus 10, No 3: Tristesse Etude  
> Opus 10, No 2: Chromatique Etude  
> Opus 10, No 1: Waterfall Etude (Played by Kageyama)  
>   
> If you left a comment, that would make my day! Also, you can find me on [tumblr](https://lumenera.tumblr.com/) here


	9. Dolce

“Itadakimasu.” Kageyama claps his hands together, then picks up his chopsticks, adjusting his grip to hold them properly.

Yamaguchi-san fusses over him during dinner. “You look too thin, Tobio-kun. Are you eating well enough?”

“I’ve been drinking a lot of milk.” He practically inhales the food; it’s so good.

She tsks. “Milk is not a good substitute for real food, Tobio-kun. Eat some more.” She presses more rice into his bowl, then slides the dish of teriyaki chicken his way.

He takes it with a small thanks. She waves it off. “No need to thank me. You’re always welcome here, okay?”

“Yes, Yamaguchi-san.” He nods.

Next to him, Yamaguchi is busy demolishing his own bowl of rice. Once dinner is over, they put a movie on in the living room, a Ghibli anime that Kageyama hasn’t seen yet. The plotline is good enough, but it’s the music that takes his breath away, soaring and otherworldly, complimenting the scenes beautifully. Yamaguchi laughs when Kageyama tells him this.

“Of course that’s what you’d focus on.”

Toshiro shushes both of them, and Yamaguchi laughs harder.

Once the movie is over, he helps Yamaguchi pull out the spare futon mattress and bring it up to his room. Yamaguchi flicks on the light as they enter. His room is as neat as always, so it’s easy to find a space to set it down. Yamaguchi-san brings up a blanket and pillow as well, and Kageyama sets them up on the futon. He relaxes onto the futon, and Yamaguchi sits on his bed.

“We haven’t done this in a long time.”

“Yeah.” The last time had been before Kageyama got serious with music, and after he quit, it never really occurred to him that it was something they should start up again. “It was fun when we did.”

“I’m glad we could do this again.”

They don’t talk for a while, until Yamaguchi changes the subject. “Aren’t you glad Hinata convinced you to go back to music?”

Kageyama hesitates before speaking. “Sure, I guess. He was super pushy about it.”

“But you love it still,” Yamaguchi points out.

“Yeah.” He can’t deny his desire to keep playing. “I did miss it.”

Yamaguchi breaks into laughter. “It took us such a long time to get all that sheet music up. We ran out of tape at one point.”

“How did you guys even convince them to play it over the PA?”

Yamaguchi shrugs. “I think he asked a faculty member that he knows has an affinity for classical music? That was Hinata’s doing, don’t ask me.”

He scowls darkly. “That was so annoying. I think I almost went insane.”

“But it worked, didn’t it?” Yamaguchi tilted his head at him, a wry smile on his lips.

Kageyama sighs, conceding to Yamaguchi’s point. More silence. Dimly, he hopes they aren’t running out to things to say. He did like having long conversations with Yamaguchi. Mindlessly, he runs his hands over the blanket, tapping out the notes to some song or something like that. His fingers have been restless.

“How’s volleyball practice?” Kageyama asks. “Learn anything new?”

His eyes light up, and he grins. “I’m learning how to jump float serve! So, a float serve is where you hit the ball in a certain place that minimizes the rotation of the ball so it sort of floats in the air, making it more unpredictable and harder to--.” Yamaguchi abruptly cuts himself off, looking away. “Sorry for rambling, all of this must be boring to you.”

“No, it’s interesting.” Kageyama isn’t lying, it does sound fascinating. “Have you had any success yet?”

“It’s around a one in five chance that it works. Shimada-san is still teaching me, though. It usually gets caught in the net. And when it does, Nishinoya-san, that’s our libero, can receive it perfectly.”

“It takes practice.” Kageyama reassures him. “You’ll get it soon.”

“Thanks, Kageyama.” He launches into an explanation of overland and underhand receives, and how a jump float serve is affected by them. Kageyama listens with renewed interest, nodding as Yamaguchi goes on.

"Practice has been weird of the late, though." Yamaguchi scrunches up a face. “Tsukki’s been acting differently lately, I don’t know why.”

“Weird? How?” Kageyama hasn’t noticed anything different about him.

“More distracted, stuff like that. Maybe it’s because of all the girls who keep giving me confession letters to give to him?”

“Tsukishima gets confession letters?” Kageyama snorts.

“I mean yeah, he’s a crushable guy, once you get to know him.” Yamaguchu blushes slightly, and Kageyama can’t help but pick up on something that his friend isn’t telling him. He won’t meet Kageyama’s eyes. “He’s pretty handsome too.”

He blinks, trying to make sense of the information. “Do you like him?”

Yamaguchi sighs, relenting. “Yeah, I like Tsukki romantically.”

“I’m sure he likes you back,” Kageyama says. He can’t read Tsukishima well enough to tell, but he supposes if the boy actually ever liked someone, it would be the one person who could tolerate him and the person he was actually friends with. If Yamaguchi didn’t have a chance with Tsukishima, then no one did. Maybe if Yamaguchi and Tsukishima were together, Tsukishima would actually soften up. _The day that happens is a futile wish,_ Kageyama thinks.

Yamaguchi shrugs, running a hand through his dark hair, then tucking some strands behind his ear. They don’t stay put, so he does it again. “Tsukki is hard to read. I can’t help that I like him, but I’m sure if he wanted to go for someone, he’d pick someone better than me.”

“Yamaguchi--” Kageyama starts, but Yamaguchi interrupts him.

“It doesn’t matter.” His friend waves him off, but Kageyama can see how tight his smile is, and how his eyes brim with unshed tears. Yamaguchi blinks a few times, and the tears disappear. “What about you, Kageyama? Who do you like? Girl? Boy?”

“I don’t know,” he answers honestly. “I haven’t really had time to think about it.”

Other than thinking about Hinata--he shoves the thought away. Hinata Shouyou is the last person he wants to have a crush on. Yamaguchi reads him like a book, though, giving him a skeptical look. His demeanor has completely changed, now that it’s his turn to interrogate Kageyama, tone teasing. He leans forward, chin resting on his fists. “Tell me.”

“Hinata is cute, I guess.” He says the first name that comes to mind, then questions why it’s the first name to come to mind. _Out of all the people he could have chosen, he picked Hinata?_

“Hinata?” Yamaguchi echoes his thoughts, raising an eyebrow at him. That was probably the last name Yamaguchi was expecting to hear.

“He likes Yachi. It doesn’t really matter.” Kageyama brushes it off instantly. The words taste bitter in his mouth. He can’t hate Yachi, it would be impossible. She did nothing wrong.

“I guess it’s normal for the person you like to have a crush on someone else. That’s what makes them shine brighter, doesn't it?” Yamaguchi sighs, wrapping himself in his comforter.

“I suppose. I don’t really pay attention to that kind of thing.”

“That’s what the girls in my class keep giggling about.”

They talk about a few more topics until Yamaguchi can’t stop yawning, and Kageyama feels his eyes wanting to slide shut. They both agree to go to bed. Yamaguchi reaches over and turns off the light, throwing the room into darkness. Kageyama tucks himself further into the warm comforter, resting his head on his pillow. “Goodnight, Yamaguchi.”

“Goodnight, Kageyama.” 

•••

Ukai Keishin punches a number into his phone, then raises it to his ear, cigarette in his other hand. “Hey, Granddad.”

“What?” Ukai Ikkei barks in lieu of greeting.

“Guess who I saw today at the competition?” Ukai holds the phone between his shoulder and his ear as he flicks a lighter, bringing it to the end of his cigarette. It catches flame, and he sets the lighter down, holding his cigarette loosely between two fingers.

“Who?”

“Kageyama Tobio.” He puts a hand back up to support his phone.

“Kageyama Aoi’s boy? He’s playing again?” Now he’s caught the old man’s attention. “What song?”

“Chopin. Opus 10, No 1.”

He hummed in approval. “Waterfall Etude.”

“He wasn’t bad at all out there. A tremendous improvement, really, from the last time I saw him. You’re still interested in teaching him, aren’t you?”

“I’m getting old, Keishin. I would teach him, but I don’t know if I can still teach.”

“You’re not dying, Granddad.” 

“I’m not,” he agrees. “But I think you should teach him.”

“Me? Why me?” Ukai balks at the words, nearly dropping his cigarette. “I’ve never taught anyone before.”

“Kageyama-kun is a good place to start, then, isn’t he? You’re just there to guide him, I doubt there’s much more he needs to be taught. He’s a talented boy, that one.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course I am.”

“I told him that you would teach him--”

“Nonsense. You are an Ukai. You will do fine.” His grandfather hangs up on him.

Ukai takes a long drag from his cigarette, exhaling the smoke.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember when I updated this fic every four days? Yeah, me neither.  
> Come bully me on [tumblr](https://lumenera.tumblr.com/) (But like gently, I don't have much self esteem left)  
> Thanks for reading <3 I really appreciate it


	10. Slancio

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Play from the heart, you know.” There are the hand motions again, but Kageyama can’t understand them anymore than he did the first time he saw them, which is to say, he doesn’t understand them at all.

The bell rings, and Kageyama only takes three steps out the classroom door before he’s assaulted by a small, moving orange. He nearly trips over his feet, but then steadies himself on the wall. Of course it’s Hinata. Who else would it be?

“Kageyama, look!” For someone as small as Hinata, he's really strong. He drags Kageyama over to the bulletin board by the hall of practice rooms, pointing his finger to one of the freshly tacked up signs. “There’s a duet competition coming up for high school students! We should enter!”

He wrenches his arm away, scowling at the red marks left behind from Hinata’s tight grip. “Why?”

“Because it’ll be fun!” Hinata says brightly.

Kageyama scowls at him, too. “No.”

He finds himself bullied into the duet anyway, because well, _it’s Hinata_. The boy shows up the next day with his arms full with a great deal of information on the competition and an even greater deal of sheet music. After a great deal of bickering, they settle on Beethoven's Violin Sonata No. 5 in F Major, Op 24, otherwise known as the Spring Sonata.

He reads through the sheet music on the first day when he gets home, and the next day is their first practice session. He sits, poised on the keys. Hinata lifts his bow, and they start to play. 13 measures in, though Hinata abruptly stops. Kageyama raises his hands, letting go of the note he was holding.

“What?” Kageyama asks.

“You sound terrible.” Hinata gives him a disapproving look.

“Say that again?” Kageyama arches both of his eyebrows before clenching his hands, raising them so that Hinata can see them. He won’t let a violin player dictate whether or not he sounds good. If Hinata wants to pick a fight, he can have one. He’s pretty sure he can take the smaller boy easily, but two realizations hit him at the same time: one, that they would be fighting over something utterly petty, and two, Hinata is talking.

“Even playing in tempo, you can still play with emotion. You don’t have to go off script like I did to do that.” Hinata says. “Honesty, Kageyama, you sound like a metronome. The music is supposed to be happy, not lifeless. It’s called the _Spring_ Sonata for a reason. You know, flowers and life.” He raises his bow in the air, violin still tucked under his chin. “From the top!”

They start over, Kageyama’s soft piano melding smoothly with Hinata’s sleek violin.

“Nope, stop.” Hinata sets his violin down on the stand and walks closer until he’s standing right by Kageyama’s shoulder. Kageyama turns his head to meet his gaze.

“What am I doing wrong?”

“You’re not putting any of your soul in it.” Hinata makes vague hand motions that Kageyama doesn’t understand. He narrows his eyes at Hinata in confusion.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Play from the heart, you know.” There are the hand motions again, but Kageyama can’t understand them anymore than he did the first time he saw them, which is to say, he doesn’t understand them at all.

“I play with my fingers.” He gives Hinata a blank stare as the words sink in.

“No, that’s not what I meant.” Hinata gives an exasperated sigh, rubbing his forehead. “You did it when you played Waterfall, why can’t you do it now?”

Kageyama stares at him. He’s missing something, but he’s not quite sure what it is. “You mean the competition?”

“I can’t really explain it.” Kageyama didn’t think that the hand motions could get more complicated than they already were, but they are. He doesn’t understand a word of JSL, though he’s pretty sure that isn’t close to any sign language in the slightest. “It’s, um, I don’t know, it makes the audience _feel_ emotions.”

“The audience feels emotions if the person plays it well or not.” It’s pretty simple in Kageyama’s mind: if you play well, the audience will be happy. If not, then the audience will be displeased.

“No, that’s not what I meant either.” Hinata shakes his head. “It’s not about how _well_ you play, it’s about how you _play_. Just--ugh.”

“I don’t get it.”

Hinata sighs again. “Whatever. Just take it from the top again, maybe you’ll find it along the way.”

He throws his mind back to last week, when he played at Towa Hall. He can’t remember much of it, just playing and the _wanting_ to keep on playing. One more note, one more second, each one adding up to create a melody, with whatever it took, so he could sit there for just a minute longer. Is that what Hinata meant? He doesn’t know how to convey that into his playing, though.

Kageyama flips back to the first page and steals a glance at Hinata. When he’s sure the other boy is ready, he lifts his fingers and begins to play, pressing lightly into the keys as he and Hianta trade the melody.

This time, Hinata doesn’t say a word until they finish, the last note ringing in the empty silence. There are plenty of things that they can touch up on, but it doesn’t have to be perfect yet. Kageyama turns to look at him.

“Was that better?” he asks.

“Well, no, I just figured that we should get some practice in first. I guess music and emotions are kinda hard to explain because no one ever taught me it, I just figured it out myself. It's okay, Kageyama! You'll get it!”

Kageyama doesn’t miss Hinata’s winch as he sets his bow on the stand. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing.” Hinata cautiously stretches out his fingers, bending them and extending them. “They’re just a little sore from practicing.”

Kageyama considers this in his head. “You sure?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.” Hinata smiles faintly at him, but it’s a pale imitation of what his smiles are normally. “It’s what happens when you have small fingers. Everything is harder to play.”

Kageyama looks down at his long, slender fingers. _Pianist’s hands_ , his mother called them. “Well, you should at least ice them. That should help.”

“I’ll do it when I get home. We still have plenty of time to practice.”

“You shouldn’t push yourself.” He of all people should know this. His mind flashes back to their first competition together, where Hinata fainted from overworking himself.

Hinata raises his eyebrows. “I didn’t realize you cared so much, Kageyama.”’

“I don’t,” he mutters, but he only half believes it himself. Hinata doesn’t look convinced, either. “I just don’t want you ending up in the hospital.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t!” Hinata chirps.

•••

The next day is another uneventful practice, unless you count a screaming match eventful. He and Kageyama are just going through the same motions over and over again, but at least they’re getting somewhere. However, Kageyama still isn’t getting the “play with emotions” thing. Hinata supposes it’s not something that can be taught verbally, more picked up over time. Emotions are a fickle thing, but music can convey it well through whoever plays it. Kageyama, on the other hand, plays like a statue.

Hinata arrives at the practice room early, and shovels down his lunch. By the time Kageyama opens the door, he’s already sitting on the piano bench, tuning his violin. He makes a face as he compares the two notes, his violin distinctly higher. Hinata remembers tuning it just yesterday, so why is it so off today? He adjusts the peg accordingly and moves onto the next string.

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Kageyama stab his milk box and take a long sip while putting away his lunch box. Hinata plucks the last string, pleased to find it’s in tune.

“Kageyama, are you ready to go?” He stands to adjust his sheet music on the stand. At this point, he still needs it, though he could probably play the first few measures by heart. Kageyama finishes off the last of his milk box and tosses it in the trash. He misses, so he walks over to throw it away properly before taking a seat at the bench.

“Yeah, I’m ready now.”

•••

Yachi finds him at the shoe cubbies. “Hinata, that new crepe place you talked about is finally open.”

“Oh yeah!” He vaguely remembers the conversation. He’s been so caught up in preparing for the competition; it would be good to have a break. “You said you would come with me, didn’t you? Is Thursday okay for you, afterschool?”

Yachi blushes lightly and nods.

“Great! See you then.”

When he gets home, he fills up a bowl with cold tap water before dropping ice cubes in it. He gives the mixture a moment to cool down before sticking his hands in, sighing at the bliss. He did it yesterday, but this morning, when he woke up, his hands hurt to move. It got better throughout the day, but now, the pain has returned. Gingerly, he curls and uncurls his fingers in the water, where the coldness is numbing the pain in his joints. Once they start turning, red, however, he pulls them out, rubbing his hands together in an attempt to warm them up. No good will come out of freezing his hands off instead of icing them. He waits about four minutes, then dunks his hands back in for another thirty seconds.

Afterwards, he surveys his hands, flipping them back and forth. None of his fingers are swollen, they just sometimes hurt when he bends them. He isn’t quite sure what caused it, because the only thing he really uses his fingers for is violin, but both hands hurt. He only uses one to press down on the strings, his bowing hand holds a different position, so why would they ache in the same places? He doesn’t know. He repeats the process a few more times before he decides it’s enough, and dries his hands on the kitchen towel. He pulls out his violin from his case, setting up his music on the stand. Then, he tightens his bow. Hinata positions his fingers on the fretboard, and after a warm up quick scale, he starts to play, breaking each part down note by note, committing them to memory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah what's this? A double update? Huh? Who are you and what have you done with the real Hana?  
> Yeah so um June 28-July 4 is Shiratoriwaza week and I'm doing that so double update in exchange for 2+ weeks of radio silence. Maybe. It all depends on how much inspiration I get. Also cause if I didn't finish chapter 11 and posted it together, then I would've waited the entire week to finish it and I don't have the kind of time lol not when my fic ideas list is getting longer by the day  
> Anyways, on to your sceduled Tsukkiyama content. Tsukishima isn't a mean guy, he's not good at expressing emotion. He perfers keeping things to himself.
> 
> [Tumblr](https://lumenera.tumblr.com/)


	11. Lacrimoso

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kageyama puffed out his tiny chest. He liked having a friend, and this would just be another song to learn over the dozens he’d already mastered. “It’ll be easy, I promise!”

Another day, another practice. Each one is blending together by now with the repetition he’s going through. Kageyama’s already resigned himself to another walk home alone when a fast moving figure with dark hair blurs by him, crying. He whips his head around, and he recognizes the backpack in an instant.

“Yamaguchi!!” he calls out, but all that does is make the boy run faster. Kageyama grips the straps of his backpack tighter and starts running after him, but Yamaguchi doesn’t stop, settling a fast pace easily as Kageyama desperately chases after him, trying to keep up. He’s fighting a losing battle, though, because Yamaguchi’s volleyball practices haven’t been for nothing. Dimly, he registers that Tsukishima is nowhere to be found.

Finally, Yamaguchi slows down a couple blocks from their houses. Kageyama is out of breath from having to run that far, but Yamaguchi is no less worse for wear, other than the tears streaking down his cheeks.

“Yamaguchi,” Kageyama tries again, sucking in copious amounts of oxygen. “Are you okay?”

“No,” he replies in a very small voice. He’s hunched over, almost like he’s trying to fold into himself and make himself seem smaller than he is. The boy in front of him is a shell of the Yamaguchi Tadashi he knows, hollow and frail. For a second, Kageyama is afraid if he reaches out and touches his shoulder, Yamaguchi will shatter into a thousand pieces and Kageyama won’t be able to put him back together. He looks down at Yamaguchi’s hands, which were balled into fists and trembling.

“What happened? Don’t you have volleyball practice today?”

Yamaguchi sniffles. “I think Tsukki hates me.”

“Tsukishima could never hate you,” Kageyama tries to reassure him, but Yamaguchi isn’t convinced in the slightest, shaking his head in the slightest motion.

“He wasn’t talking to me, and when I asked him what was wrong, he said ‘Nothing’ in a very terse tone and didn’t talk about it further. I think I did something wrong.”

“What would you do wrong?” Yamaguchi would be the last person to do something wrong, so Kageyama finds that very hard to believe.

“I don’t  _ know _ .” Fresh tears start to fall from his eyes again. Yamaguchi hurriedly goes to wipe them away, but they keep coming.

They turn onto their street, and an idea sparks in his head. “Open your window when you get inside, okay?” Kageyama tells him.

Yamaguchi stops rubbing at his face, puzzled, but he nods regardless. They separate to their individual houses, Kageyama jamming the key in the lock so he can enter his house as fast as possible. He drops his backpack on the floor next to his kicked off sneakers and pushes the door of the piano room open rather forcefully. He strides purposefully towards the piano bookshelf and runs his finger down the spines of the books, reading the names. It’s not there, so Kageyama flips open his piano bench instead. There, on the top of some more music books, is the one he’s looking for. He brushes off a speck on the cover before cracking it open to the song he wants and setting it on the piano stand.

Then, Kageyama walks over to open the window adjacent to the Yamaguchi’s. He hears a second window slide open tentatively. Yamaguchi peeks his head out to meet Kageyama’s gaze. He nods once in greeting and sits down at the bench, smoothing the papers again so they lay flat. The pages are slightly yellowed with age, but all the notes are still clear enough to read. His right hand finds Eb, and he begins to play, assaulted by the memories. Yamaguchi gasps from the window in recognition.

_ “Tobio-kun, I think it’s so cool that you play piano!” said Yamaguchi Tadashi, 7 years old, sitting on the domed plastic of the playground next to him. _

_ “Really?” Kageyama looked at him with renewed interest. “Do you have a favorite song?” _

_ He put his hand on the back of his neck and sheepishly grinned. “Yeah, I like that one from Yiruma, Kiss the Rain? It’s really pretty.” _

_ “Oh.” Kageyama was expecting more of a Clair de Lune type song. Yamaguchi struck him as a more sensible person, who would prefer the slower, steadier songs, rather than the fast upbeat songs that then Kageyama’s tiny, chubby kid fingers couldn’t quite keep up with yet. _

_ “Do you not like it?” Yamaguchi looked at him with fear in his eyes, like he might have said something that offended Kageyama. _

_ “No, I just thought you’d say something more like Nocturne in C Sharp or Sonata No. 11, K331.” Both songs Kageyama’s own mother had played for him hundreds of times. Peaceful songs, with melodies you could get lost inside. _

_ “I’ve never heard of those songs.” Yamaguchi confessed. Unlike Kageyama’s mom, neither of Yamaguchi’s parents played any instruments. Young Kageyama would learn soon that it wasn’t normal to know so much about classical music at his age. Yamaguchi would be the first to let him know, but unlike the rest, he was the only one curious to learn more. Probably because neither of them really had friends except each other, not until Tsukishima came along in their 6th year of elementary school.  _

_ “Then I’ll learn Kiss the Rain for you.” Kageyama puffed out his tiny chest. He liked having a friend, and this would just be another song to learn over the dozens he’d already mastered. “It’ll be easy, I promise!” _

_ “Cool!” _

_ “Mama,” Kageyama asked when he got home. “Can I learn Kiss the Rain? It’s Tadashi-kun's favorite song, he says.” _

_ His mother hummed as she moved around in the kitchen. “Tadashi-kun’s favorite song, you say? Of course. We’ll go get the music next time we stop by the store, okay?” _

_ Kageyama cheered. _

“Kiss the Rain,” Yamaguchi breathes with recognition. Kageyama’s playing soft enough that he can still hear his neighbor’s quiet voice from across the two houses. He hasn’t played the song in forever, but its difficulty pales in comparison to the other songs he’d been playing before. It feels different to play, but that’s probably because his fingers are much bigger than they were since he isn’t seven years old anymore.

He adds a little bit of his own improvisation, just a note here and there. That’s the good thing about chords, they can be as simple or complex as you want them to be. He hasn’t heard this song in ages, but ancient muscle memory keeps him on the right path.

Yamaguchi claps for him when he finishes the song. There’s a genuine smile on his face. Yamaguchi’s tears have stopped, though his cheeks are still shining. “Thanks, Kageyama. That was beautiful, I can’t believe that you remembered.”

“Tsukishima is a jerk and he doesn’t deserve you.” Kageyama says bluntly. 

“Tsukki is just--” Yamaguchi’s voice trails off when he sees Kageyama’s look. “Fine.” 

He nods, satisfied. “You deserve so much better.”

It’s a Friday so at least Yamaguchi has the weekend to recover. He and Kageyama hang out for a couple hours and head to the konbini to get some junk food. Of course, Yamaguchi goes for the fries.

•••

On Monday, Kageyama corners Tsukishima before school. “We need to talk.”

“What do you want?” Tsukishima sighs, like he doesn’t want to deal with him this early, but lowers his headphones nonetheless.

“It’s about Yamaguchi.”

“He skipped practice on Friday. Aren’t you his neighbor? Wouldn’t you know how he’s doing better than I?”

He’s misunderstanding the situation. Kageyama decides to go all in with his words. “You’ve been acting like a selfish jerk lately, and if you keep that up, you’re going to lose the only friend you ever had. It’s hurting Yamaguchi. He was crying yesterday because of you. For your sake, you better make it up to him soon.”

“What did I do?” Tsukishima fidgets with his black rimmed glasses, looking genuinely concerned for the first time since Kageyama met him.

“You ask yourself that.” Kageyama levels his gaze at him, which is harder to do when Tsukishima is eight centimeters taller, but he makes it work. The other boy takes a step back.  _ Good. _ Kageyama has unnerved him. He walks away, leaving Tsukishima dumbfounded.

Lunch is a noisy affair. He and Hinata meet up in the music room again, and this time, Yamaguchi watches from the corner as Hinata berates him for not showing emotion, the usual argument. Kageyama throws back a few retorts of his own, and Yamaguchi has to stop them from throwing hands at each other.

The rest of the day passes by in an uneventful fashion. Kaygeyama dutifully takes notes and fills out worksheets and reads textbook pages. He’d never liked Japanese Literature, and he doesn’t like it any more now. He watches the clock tick down until the bell rings, signalling he’s free to go. Kageyama slides his papers back into his backpack and slings it onto a shoulder.

He meets Yamaguchi outside his classroom. “Are you skipping practice again?”

Yamaguchi runs a hand through his hair, looking bashful, his other hand gripping a stack of papers and books. “No, I think I need to go. Suga-san came by my class and asked where I was. Besides, I can’t hide from Tsukki forever.” He gives Kageyama a small smile, his voice wobbling on the name. He gives Kageyama a hug. Kageyama stands there, shocked, before awkwardly putting his arms around Yamaguchi. He’s not used to hugs.

“Thanks, Kageyama. You’re a good friend.”

•••

“Yamaguchi.” Yamaguchi whirls around, breaking the hug as Tsukki approaches. Yamaguchi’s eyes dart around wildly, unsure what to do, how to react.  _ Oh _ . Kageyama looks between them and takes his leave, waving goodbye. Yamaguchi waves back before turning to face Tsukki.

“Are you coming to practice today?”

“Yeah,” he says softly. His hands are shaking, so he hides them behind his back. They stand there as the rest of the students head off to their afternoon activities.

“Kageyama approached me this morning.” Tsukishima says after a beat of silence. “He said I had to make it up to you for being a bad friend.”

Yamaguchi stifles a smile at this. Tsukki’s got at least a few centimeters on Kageyama, but he was sure Kageyama managed to make a threatening show nevertheless. But then the second sentence sinks in, and he startles his head up. “What?” You being a bad friend?” He manages a nervous laugh. “No, of course not! I’m sorry Kageyama bothered you, he really shouldn’t have, I’ll talk to him about it--”

Tsukki holds up a hand and cuts him off. “You don’t sound okay.”

“Oh, no, I’m perfectly fine, why are you so concern--”

“I’ve probably exchanged less then 30 words with Kageyama, and he  _ purposely _ sought me out. What’s going on?”

“Nothing, I just thought you were mad at me so--”

“Why would I be mad at you?”

“I don’t know?” Yamaguchi offers, because he’s out of words at this point. “You weren’t talking to me for a while and I know you said I did nothing wrong but your tone said otherwise.”

“I’m sorry.” Tsukishima rubs the back of his neck. “I didn’t mean it that way. I just--” he lets out a long exhale--”You and Kageyama--”

“What about me and Kageyama?” Now it’s his turn to interrupt.

“You guys have been spending a lot of time together lately.”

Yamaguchi blinks, not understanding what he’s trying to get at. “Yeah, we’re neighbors.”

“Is that it?” Tsukki’s voice holds a bit of a bite to it. Yamaguchi takes a step back, unsure why.

“We’re friends?” The sentence comes out as a question rather than a statement like Yamaguchi intended it to be, so he tries again. “We’re friends, can we not hang out together?”

It’s still a question, but at least it sounds better than his first attempt. If he isn’t mistaken, Tsukki looks relieved, even. He rubs his eyes, trying to see if he’s just imagining things, and when the expression is gone, he tells himself he is.  _ He probably needs more sleep, _ Yamaguchi thinks to himself.

“Of course you guys can hang out together,” Tsukki reassures him. “Come on, we’ve got practice.”

“What were you going to say about me and Kageyama?” Yamaguchi can’t help but ask as they walk toward the club room, because he never really said quite what he meant.

“Nevermind. It doesn’t matter now.”

“Sorry, Tsukki.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bby kiddos  
> I live for Yamayama friendship  
> [Tumblr](https://lumenera.tumblr.com/)


	12. Affretando

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “High five!” Hinata says, motioning his hands impatiently.  
> “Oh.” Kageyama awkwardly slaps them. His hands burn at the contact, and he can feel the heat rising in his face.   
> “That wasn’t very enthusiastic.”

Kageyama thinks they sound decent enough so far. But anything less than perfection won’t win any competitions, and certainly enough, decent won’t be even close. Of course, as the accompanist, his part is much easier compared to Hinata’s. That’s why they need to practice, ensuring that it will be perfect when the time comes. 

Kageyama sets the metronome to 140 bpm, counting off the beats in his head while tapping his foot on the ground, making sure that his back is perfectly straight. _One-two-three-four. One-two-three-four._ He lets the metronome tick for 8 more counts, then he starts to play. His fingers strike the keys in a fluid motion, with curved hands and raised fingers.

The door opens. “You started without me?”

Kageyama stops playing. The metronome continues to tick. “You were late.”

Hinata enters the room, violin case in one hand, sandwich in the other with a singular bite in it. “Sorry, Yachi wanted to confirm something really fast.”

“Well, hurry up. We don’t have all day.”

“I know, I know.” Hinata unloads everything he has to the floor, then opens his violin case. Kageyama watches as he plucks each string, then tightens his bow. He pulls his sheet music from his backpack and sets it on the ever present stand. “Okay, I’m good.”

Kageyama lets the metronome give four beats before he starts again. Hinata joins in easily. They make it through the entire song without missing a note and the dynamics are smooth, flowing from piano to forte without sounding awkward. It’s the first perfect runthrough they’ve had. Hinata sets down his violin and holds his hands out to Kageyama.

“What?” Kageyama looks back and forth between Hinata’s hands and face.

“High five!” Hinata says, motioning his hands impatiently.

“Oh.” Kageyama awkwardly slaps them. His hands burn at the contact, and he can feel the heat rising in his face. 

“That wasn’t very enthusiastic.” By some miracle, Hinata doesn’t notice. Hopefully that means his face isn’t as red as he thinks it is.

Kageyama furrows his eyebrows. “Was I supposed to hit them harder?”

Hinata nods. Kageyama shrugs.

“I think we’ve earned a break.”

“You practice until it’s perfect.” Kageyama says automatically. “And then you practice more until you can do it with your eyes closed.”

“It’s okay to take breaks, you know. It won’t be the end of the world.”

Part of Kageyama wants to say that he wants all the time to perfect this piece, but he also knows that Hinata is right. They sit with their backs to the wall and eat lunch. Kageyama heads out to the water fountain and takes a drink. When he returns, they’re ready to start practicing again.

It occurs to him, later in the day, that they could spend more time practicing than just their lunch breaks. Old habits die hard, he supposes, but it’s always paid off.

“Hey Hinata,” Kageyama says when he passes him in the hall, flagging him down. “Do you want to do an afterschool practice?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I can’t.” Hinata looks sheepish, adjusting the straps of his backpack. “I promised Yachi I’d get crepes with her today. I’m sorry, can we do it tomorrow?

Kageyama’s heart clenches. He _told_ Yamaguchi that he didn’t stand a chance, and he was right. He forces out a “Sure” and Hianta smiles at him.

“Great, see you then.” He skips off, presumably to find Yachi. Kageyama watches him go and finds that even the appeal of piano has diminished for him. He walks home slowly, alone.

• • • 

“Hinata-kun!” Yachi flags him down. “Are you ready to go?”

“Yep!” he chirps. His eyes flicker in the direction that Kageyama went, but the other boy is long gone. He tries not to let that bother him as much as it does. He turns back to Yachi, adjusting his backpack and switching his violin case to his other hand. Hinata gives her a thumbs up. “You have the directions, right?”

Yachi shows him her phone, with Google Maps pulled up. It’s less than a five minute walk, which is nice, because he’s really excited to try these crepes. Yachi goes for peaches and cream, while he orders a ham and swiss crepe. They stand behind the counter as they watch the employee spread the mixture across the circular stove before adding their different toppings.

“My gosh, these are so good!” Yachi gushes after eating her first bite. “Do you think Shimizu-san would like these?”

“I don’t see why not.” Hinata says through a mouthful of warm crepe. He swallows, then points out, “There’s a large variety of options from her to choose from, so there has to be something that she’ll like.”

“We could make it a manager’s day! Wait, what if she says no?” Yachi looks horrified at that thought.

“I’m sure she won’t,” Hinata reassures. “From what you’ve told me about her, I’m sure she’ll say yes.”

Yachi pulls out her phone and shows him a picture of the third year, with long black hair, blue eyes, and glasses. It’s slightly off focus, but what Yachi sees in Shimizu is clear enough. “Isn’t she pretty?”

Hinata nods, his mind flashing to a different set of black hair and blue eyes. “Blue eyes are really something, aren’t they?”

“Sometimes I think her fanclub is going to find out where I live and murder me in my sleep,” Yachi says. “For spending so much time with her.”

After Hinata convinces her that no, Shimizu-san’s fanclub is not prone to murder and therefore she’ll be fine, the conversation turns to other topics. They polish off the last of their crepes with matching sighs. He debates buying another one, but he thinks better of it.

“Thanks for coming, Hinata,” Yachi says, shouldering her backpack.

“No problem, it was fun! We should do this again,” he replies. They walk to the bus station, and he waves goodbye to Yachi when a sign catches his eye.

The bell at the door rings as he steps through the door of FamilyMart. He browses the snack section, wondering if he should buy Natsu some Pocky, but he knows his mother will scold him for giving her too much sugar when she’s bouncing off the walls at midnight.

Hinata finds Air Salonpas in the first aid section. He’s been icing his hands, but they still hurt a ton when he plays. He digs through his pocket for 100 yen coins, and after paying, he tears open the package and wraps them around his fingers as best he can, breathing in the sharp, cool scent. Hopefully, that will help ease the ache in his joints.

• • • 

Kageyama finds himself doing anything but piano. He takes a nap, he sets off the fire alarm while trying to cook(It was an accident) and thirty minutes later, he’s kneeling on the floor, spilling out the contents of his backpack onto the polished wood. Kageyama picks through crumpled assignments when he comes across a creased business card. He picks it up and examines it. He doesn’t remember putting Ukai’s card in his backpack, but there it is, nevertheless.

Kageyama pulls out his phone and dials the number. Playing piano and scheduling music are two different things. He’ll return to the bench tomorrow, but right now, he just wants a break from playing and the connection that it bridged to a certain boy with orange hair.

“Hello?” says a voice.

“Hi, Ukai-sa--” He recollects himself. “Good afternoon, Ukai. It’s Kageyama Tobio. I was calling about the piano lessons you talked about?”

“Ah, right.” There’s a pause and sharp inhale, like the person on the other end is smoking a cigarette. “I talked to Grandad and he said he couldn't teach you because of his health problems, but if you don’t mind, he offered me to teach in his place instead.”

“That’s fine.” None of the Ukai are musically lacking. He can’t remember what any of Ukai Keishin’s playing sounds like, but it’s of a decent caliber. Nothing less is expected of an Ukai.

“When do you want to schedule your first lesson, then?”

“Any day is fine. Next Monday at 7?”

“Sure thing, kid. I’ll see you then.” Ukai hangs up. Kageyama drops the business card on his desk and goes back to rifling through his backpack.

For dinner, he tears open a pack of instant ramen after his failed attempt at making something nice. Even though the noodles are really bad for him, he enjoys it anyway. Kageyama stirs at his bowl with his chopsticks, staring at the MSG-filled soup like it will divulge the secrets of the world to him. It does not, but he drinks it until his bowl is empty, washing it down with a cup of water lest he accidentally dies from a sodium overdose. He scrubs at the pot with a sponge, then washes his bowl and chopsticks, placing them on a drying rack. Then, he goes to his room and flops onto his bed, staring up at the ceiling until sleep takes him.

• • • 

The next morning, he sleeps through his alarm. Kageyama startles awake, reads the time on the clock, and runs to the bathroom, nearly tripping over his blanket. 5 minutes later, he’s jamming everything back into his backpack and rushing out the door when he realizes that he’s actually earlier than normal, despite waking up later.

“Kageyama!” Yamaguchi flags him down. “Wait for me!”

He pauses and waits for Yamaguchi to catch up. 

“Good morning, Yamaguchi.”

“Morning!”

“You seem cheerier today.”

“Really?” Yamaguchi rubs the back of his neck with his hand. “I didn’t notice.”

“Probably because you and Tsukishima made up.”

Yamaguchi makes a so-so gesture. “I guess. How are things going with you and Hinata?”

“Practice is going well enough, I suppose.”

“But?” Yamaguchi has caught onto the face that Kageyama didn’t know he was making, and tilts his head at him.

“I suggested an afterschool practice, but Hinata said he was going to get crepes with Yachi.”

“With Yachi? I mean, they--oh. But you guys still have time to practice, don’t you?”

“Yeah, but it’s not really about the competition. He got crepes with Yachi.”

“It could have been a friendly outing.” Yamaguchi gives him a sympathetic look, but Kageyama is pretty sure that he’s trying to convince himself as much as he’s trying to convince Kageyama.

“It’s fine, Yamaguchi. We both know that Hinata likes Yachi.” He forces a smile onto his face. “I should be happy for them.”

“Okay.” Yamaguchi shoots him one last look, but drops the topic.

• • • 

After school ends, Kageyama and Hinata meet up and practice for about an hour in addition to their lunch practice. Kageyama can play it with his eyes closed by now, and he does, focusing all of his brain power on playing each note to perfection. Hinata promises to get to Towa Hall early so they can practice together a few more times.

Then, Kageyama hurries home, because he’s got a piano lesson to attend. Ukai rings the doorbell a few minutes later, and after fixing him a cup of tea, Kageyama settles himself at the piano bench and plays his part of the Spring Sonata.

“Anything I can improve?” Kageyama lifts his hands off the keys and looks expectantly at Ukai, who’s drawn up a chair next to the piano.

“No, I think you’re pretty good. Good tempo, good posture.” Ukai’s nodding his head as he taps the side of his face in thought. “But you should watch the dynamics when you play with Hinata-kun, you said it was? How you’re playing now is fine for a solo piece, but if you’re playing with a violinist, you’re going to overshadow them. I assume you adjusted the dynamics because you’re playing solo?”

“Yes,” Kageyama says.

“Okay, then you’re good. Just make sure you remember that when you’re on stage and you’ll be all set. I’ll be sitting in the audience.”

“Thank you, Ukai.” Kageyama starts to bow, but Ukai waves him off.

“Sometimes, I used to sit in on your mom’s lessons with Grandad. When I was a kid,” Ukai elaborates. “She was very talented, and so are you. I have no doubt that everything will be just fine when the time comes. Why don’t you run through it a few more times? There’s no such thing as too much practice. Afterwards, I’ve got a piece in mind that I think you might like.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The idea is to get the next chapter out by this Friday and get back on my regular-ish posting scedule, but it's been a rough week for me so we'll see how it goes. Also, thank you so much for all the comments and kudos! Your support means a lot to me. <3  
>  _Next time on Sempre Piu:_ Kageyama runs into a very old acquaintance. Some people might call him...The Grand King of Miyagi.
> 
> [Bethoveen’s Violin Sonata No. 5 in F Major, Op 24/Spring Sonata](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcofgtlKdj4) (Because I forgot to link it earlier)  
>   
> [tumblr](https://www.lumenera.tumblr.com)


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There were three memories that Hinata pinpointed where his love for music stemmed from. People asked him all the time, “Why do you play the violin? Why not choose a sport?”  
> They never mentioned his height, though Hinata supposed he could have joined the track team or something. Every other sport was far too tall for him.

There are two days for the preliminaries. From each day, only five duets will be selected for a total of ten semi-finalists who will perform in a month’s time. The top five duos will have their scores posted, and the top three will receive cash prizes. First place, 10,000 yen each. Second, 5,000 yen, and third, 2,500 yen. Kageyama stills when he reads the last set of names on the competition order for that day.

“Tobio-chan~!!” says a singsong voice, like he’s been summoned on cue. Kageyama flinches and turns. He’d know that voice anywhere.

“Oikawa, stop that,” says another voice, sounding mildly annoyed.

Oikawa flashes Kageyama a smug grin, ignoring the voice behind him. “How’s my little prodigy? Finally decided to grace the music world with your appearance, have you?”

_ Oikawa Tooru. _ One of his mother’s more talented students, a few years older than Kageyama himself. And behind him, he recognizes Oikawa’s best friend, Iwaizumi Hajime. It’d been a while since they’d all taken lessons from his mother, but Iwaizumi hasn’t changed much. Of course, he’s a bit taller, but they all are. 

He dips his head as politely as he can manage. “Iwaizumi-san, Oikawa-san.”

“Kageyama-kun,” Iwaizumi greets him back. “I hope you’ve been doing well.”

He’s reminded why he prefered Iwaizumi over Oikawa. Iwaizumi was always the more polite one, and he could control Oikawa like no one else.

“I’ve been okay.” His eyes land on the violin case in Iwaizumi’s grip. “I didn’t know you switched to violin.”

“Yeah, Trashykawa here,” he elbows Oikawa, who yelps in pain, “Wanted someone to play duets with him, and piano wasn’t really my thing. Violin felt more natural for me, so it wasn’t a hard decision to make.”

“I see. I wish you luck in your performance.”

“Thank you, Kageyama-kun. I wish you luck as well.” He turns to leave.

“Hey, how come I didn’t get any luck?” Kageyama hears Oikawa say, scowling like a petulant child as Iwaizumi drags him away.

“Because you don’t deserve any, moron.” Iwaizumi tells him. Kageyama stifles a snort. Some things never change.

•••

Hinata comes up behind Kageyama. “Who are they?” he asks, but he’s pretty sure he already knows the answer. Oikawa Tooru has a loud presence, and in the background is always Iwaizumi Hajime, stoic and steady, a foil to Oikawa’s cheerful and relentless personality.

“Some of my mother’s old students,” Kageyama says gruffly. “Oikawa-san and Iwaizumi-san. Watching Oikawa-san...taught me a lot of what I know.”

If Kageyama, the so-called “King of the Keys”, looks up to Oikawa Tooru, that makes him higher than a king.  _ This is Miyagi’s Great King,  _ Hinata thinks. He’s watched their performances before. Oikawa Tooru has a tendency to draw out perfection no matter the violinist he plays with. It’s astounding, really.

“What are you thinking?” Kageyama tilts his head to the side, giving him a curious look.

“If you’re the King, then he must be the Grand King!”

“What?” Kageyama attempts to smack on the side of the head, but Hinata dodges.

“Kageyama, don’t hit me!”

“Grand King? What are you even saying?”

“Let’s just go practice!” Hinata changes the subject, and Kageyama drops it. They find an empty practice room, and he loosens the tie at his neck. He tied it wrong, he’ll have to fix it later.

“You ready?” Kageyama asks.

Hinata lifts his violin, then adjusts the shoulder rest. He nods. “Alright.”

•••

Soon enough, they are called onto the stage. Hinata walks out first, followed by Kageyama. They bow for the audience, then take their places. He meets Kageyama’s eyes. Nods once. Raises his bow.

Hinata and Kageyama strike the first note together.

•••

_ There were three memories that Hinata pinpointed where his love for music stemmed from. People asked him all the time, “Why do you play the violin? Why not choose a sport?” _

_ They never mentioned his height, though Hinata supposed he could have joined the track team or something. Every other sport was far too tall for him. _

_ The first memory was the one he told most people about. He was 11 years old when Udai Tenma swept the crowd away with a few strokes of his bow, his eyes closed as he drew out the notes, stringing them together one by one to create inescapable, breathtaking sound. Hinata couldn’t take his eyes away. He felt tears on his cheeks. Reaching up a hand, he brushed them away, leaning forward in his bike seat, mouth agape as the music washed over him. Even the electronic screen couldn’t diminish the music’s beauty and elegance. _

_ The Little Giant, they called him afterwards. So small in height, but with such a large stage presence, and undeniable talent. _

_ What would it be like, Hinata wondered, to be able to create happiness like that? _

_ He went home, and Natsu listened impatiently as he gushed about what he heard. Of course she wasn’t interested in classical music; she was four. That night, his mother was working late again, so it fell on him to tuck Natsu into bed, wrapping her like a sushi roll. _

_ “Nii-chan, sing me a song,” Natsu said, looking up at him, eyes wide. _

_ Hinata opened his mouth and blanked. All songs disappeared from his memory. Natsu giggled. _

_ “You look silly with your mouth open.” _

_ Hinata mock-pouted, and she giggled harder. He reached out a hand and started tickling her neck. Natsu scrunched up her shoulders in a futile attempt to stop his hands. _

_ “Nii-chan!” she said, the syllables broken up with laughter, thrashing about to try and get away from him. “Stop that!” _

_ Hinata gave her one last tickle, and she attempted to kick him, though bound by her comforter, it didn’t reach him. _

_ “Okay, I’ll stop.” He withdrew his hands. “What song do you want me to sing?” _

_ Natsu snuggled up with her comforter. “It doesn’t matter.” _

_ Hinata ran through his mind again. At last, a lullaby came to mind. He opened his mouth and began to sing. “Nenneko shasshari mase, neta ko no kawaisa. Okite naku ko no, nenkororo, tsura nikusa. Nenkororon, nenkororon.” _

_ Natsu clapped her tiny hands together, the tips barely visible from under her blanket. A burst of warmth fluttered inside his chest. With Natsu smiling up at him, Hinata knew: the only thing he was destined for was music. That was the second one. It didn’t take unmeasurable talent to create happiness; Natsu proved that. Creating any form of art was welcome enough. It would touch the heart of at least one person, and that would be all it had to take. To change one life for the better, just one life, and it would be worth it. _

_ The next day, he checked his piggy bank and biked to the nearest music store. All the violins were too expensive, but the owner of the shop found an old violin in the back, used. It was far out of tune and covered in dust, but once it was fixed up, it played like a dream, his dream, even though the notes came out scratchy, sounding like the cats in the alleyway he always said hello to on his way to school. The strings hurt to press down on and his bow grip felt uncomfortable, but it was all worth it when he played for Natsu for the first time. The undeniable happiness on her face had him floating on cloud nine for weeks. He threw himself into practice with vigour, taking in the euphoria at every advancement he made. _

_ He could be like Udai Tenma too. _

_ The third one was Kageyama Tobio’s last performance. _

_ To not know about the child prodigy, Kageyama Tobio, and be in the Japanese musical world meant you’d probably been living under a rock for the last decade. Every note in its place, his expertise in plain sight for all to see. Hinata marveled at it, resting his hands on the seat in front of him in the dark auditorium of Towa Hall. Kageyama had been wearing his blue suit then, as his fingers produced trills and sixty-fourth notes and one-twenty-eighth notes. _

_ And then he stopped playing, just like that. You could hear a pin drop in the carpeted auditorium, holding one collective breath, waiting for him to continue playing-- _

_ He didn’t. _

_ Kageyama Tobio disappeared off the grid. There one day, gone the next. _

_ Hinata didn’t get it. (He still didn’t get it, now, after meeting with Kageyama, playing with Kageyama.) The day he picked up his violin, he never wanted to stop. He fell fast and hard for music, and in return, the music loved him. So what happened to Kageyama? _

•••

Something about this playthrough felt different. Hinata could feel the determination flowing through each note, the passion. He didn’t dare turn around in the middle of playing, but some part of him knew the emotion stemmed from Kageyama. His fingers irritated him, but he kept going, winching slightly at every note change, letting the joy he felt at playing be expressed to the audience. He could make it through this one song without letting the pain get in the way.

On the last note, he lifted his bow with a flourish and let it echo around the room. The audience bursts into applause, and he inhales a deep breath. When he turns to Kageyama, the other boy is doing the same. 

He was right: this playthrough sounds different from any other practice they’ve done before. He could feel Kageyama’s emotions while he played.

“I guess it really isn’t something that can be taught, to have a passion for your music.”

Kageyama looks surprised. “You felt that too?”

“What better thing is there than that?” Hinata smiles. “Let’s do that again.”

Kageyama gives him the first real smile he’s ever seen. They walk offstage, the euphoria of performing slowly wearing off.

Backstage, there’s a table of snacks, and Hinata helps himself to an onigiri, then doubling back when he spots curry buns. Playing on stage made him really hungry.

Results come soon enough, and there he and Kageyama are. They made it to the semifinals. Hinata punches the air. They did it.

•••

He takes the bus home, still giddy with delight. Before he’s even taken off his shoes, there’s a knock on the door, and Hinata answers it. It’s their neighbor, coming to return Natsu.

“Nii-chan!!” she squeals, kicking off her shoes and running to give him a hug.

“Nastu!” he hugs her back, ruffling her hair. “Thank you for bringing her home, Yamamoto-san.”

Their neighbor bids them farewell, and Hinata closes the door behind her.

“How did your competition go?”

“We made it to the semifinals!”

“Yay!!” Natsu cheers and starts to dance around the living room. Hinata smiles so widely it hurts. “Is Mama home yet?”

“No, not yet, she’s still working. Alright, we gotta get you to bed.”

“Can you play me a song?”

“Of course.” He picks her up, and she squeals in delight. While she gets changed, he pulls out his violin and tightens his bow, applying a fresh coat of rosin. Once Natsu is all tucked in, he starts to play on his violin. She joins in.

“Nenneko shasshari mase, neta ko no kawaisa. Okite naku ko no, nenkororo, tsura nikusa. Nenkororon, nenkororon.”

“Good night, Nastu,” he murmurs, planting a soft kiss to her forehead.

“Good night, nii-chan,” she replies, already half asleep. “You’re the best.”

He smiles softly. “No, you are.” Hinata turns off the light and tucks away his violin before going to bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a Hinata chapter!! Actual ray of sunshine + Natsu.  
> \- 10,000 yen is ~$95 USD  
> \- The lullaby Hinata and Natsu sing is Chūgoku Region Lullaby.
> 
> Remember to wash your hands and social distance :) <3  
> [tumblr](https://lumenera.tumblr.com/) (@lumenera)


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